Maverick Hunter X: Next-Level Insurrection
by Gurahk
Summary: In the year 2053, the Maverick Hunters are combatting evil Reploids known as Mavericks. But soon, they are betrayed by their own kind, leaving one to fight against their armies. This begins the story of the Maverick Hunter X. First in the MHX series, and retelling of the first MMX. Rated for language and violence. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: A Taste of Things to Come

**Maverick Hunter X – Next-Level Insurrection**

 **Chapter 1: A Taste of Things To Come**

 **(A/N: Hey guys, I'm back with another full-lengthed story. Haven't done one of these in a while, but this is one me and my friend, ZekeKnight, have been doing for years. It was once in the visual style of Sonic, but we are rewriting and styling it in the old MMX style. This is the first story in the series we call Maverick Hunter X. Hope you enjoy it!)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own any characters originating from the Mega Man X series. All characters in that respect are property of Capcom. Please support the official release!**

* * *

 _Earth. A once beautiful, populous, and inheritly good planet was brought to the brink of destruction…by its own people._

 _In the year 2027, many of the world's most powerful nations came to blows by power, ego, and greed, and thus starting the third World War. A war that lasted seven long agonizing years. By the war's end, there was no clear winner. Billions of lives were lost. Soldiers, innocents, political leaders, even the plants and animals were lost to the conflict._

 _People began to live in fear in the years following, as those that remained or succeeded the deceased pondered how to rebuild from the damage done to the world. The answer came at 2041, where Professor Kristine Rimmer unveiled an invention from the final days of the war: an android that could think, feel, and act upon its own free will. The robot's designation was simply 'X'._

 _Soon, four similar androids emerged, along with a fifth over a decade later. These androids became known to the world as the prototypes for the new sentient life on the planet. The replicant androids, shortened to Reploids, began to flourish from assembly lines and were put to use in labor work, to rebuild the world around them. Their durability and hyper stamina allowed them to perform tasks normal humans could not, and in five years' time, the world was remade to how it was before and even greater. Humans and Reploids would work, play, and live in harmony._

 _But with every gift, comes a grave cost….._

 _The date – March 26, 2050. Reports swarmed in of a Reploid attacking a high school in Lovington, New Mexico, killing 150 students and staff. This would only be the first of a strong wave of incidents involving rogue Reploids rebelling against their human creators and even committing criminal acts. These rebellious Reploids, known as Mavericks, appeared throughout the world and disrupted the peaceful times the world had seen._

 _No one was able to discover the cause of how the Mavericks came to be. The consequences of free will? A mysterious computer virus? A glitch in their systems? Perhaps even inability to mate? The case was left unsolved, but not unresolved. A year after the initial Maverick attacks, the United Nations approved of the formation of a Reploid military to deal with major threats, known as the Repliforce, as well as a global Reploid task force made to detain or destroy Mavericks throughout the world, with most of its outposts and memberships in Western Europe. Led by Sigma—the strongest robot created by mankind—this group became widely known as the Maverick Hunters._

 _It is now 2053. Maverick crime is still on the rise, with need of Hunters growing more and more. X has now joined the Maverick Hunters, alongside two of his fellow prototypes—Zero and Vile—in hopes of stopping the Mavericks before they can cause any more pain and bring everlasting peace to the Earth._

* * *

 **16:00 – UNDISCLOSED LOCATION**

A large warehouse door opened up as we see our heroes: the Maverick Hunters. Several hunters of different styles and nationalities quietly rush in, waiting for a command by their leader. The Reploid was a large, bald, humanoid machine, with light skinned face, blue eyes with no iris, a flattened and refined chin, and a red circular gem on his forehead. He had black underarmor and green chest armor and shoulder plates, with a red gem on the left hand side of his chest and some silver and red accents thrown in. He had red Reploid "ears" with some armor behind his neck, blue arms, and brown legs and boots. This was the Maverick Hunter Commander, Sigma, and the world's most powerful Reploid.

A few hunters quietly crept in, from different positions carefully observing the surroundings for the Maverick target. Among those in this small group were a purple armadillo Reploid with metallic armor covering him and a red jewel on his forehead, named Armored Armadillo; a small purple penguin Reploid with yellow markings, a silver beak, and twin tanks on his back, named Chill Penguin; and a humanoid Reploid with long blonde hair, a sharpened red helmet with white detais and a blue triangular gem on his forehead, red armor and white circular shoulders, with a purple 'Z' on his left hand one and green gems on his chest; this was the elite A-Class Hunter, Zero.

Zero motioned for a steady approach, as he could feel his target was nearby more and more. Zero touched the communicator on his ear to contact. "Commander, the enemy is nowhere in sight. But I have a feeling he's lurking close…."

"Good work, Zero." Sigma said. "Nana, are you able to get a fix on the target?"

" _Already on it, Sigma sir!"_ said a voice over the communicator. _"The Maverick in question is a vampire-like Reploid, calls himself Vampro Alucard. The analysis says that he attacks victims, drains them of life force and uses it to grow his own power. His abilities seem to be in, and I quote, 'dark alchemy'."_

"Vampire, huh?" said Sigma. "Then he will most likely be somewhere here where there's little light. Hunters, be on high alert. We don't know where or when he'll strike, so check all surroundings."

"Copy that, sir." Said Armored Armadillo, over his radio.

The Hunters crept steadily and carefully, trying to find the Maverick for themselves. But Vampro Alucard's snarls were too quiet to be heard. One of Zero's teammates steadily walked about, but then stepped in some liquid. He had hoped it was some sort of lubrication. It was far worse; blue blood. Blue blood that could only be of a Reploid. He slowly looked up, turning his light upwards, and looked in horror at the sight. The sight of Reploids cut open, mangled, bleeding out, and far past dead.

Before he could scream at the sight, he was grabbed rather tightly. This caused him to scream, his crewmates looked on, and saw what appeared to be a black and purple winged monster biting into his neck.

"Nicc, no!" shouted a Hunter.

Nicc screamed in agony as the creature chewed at his metal casing. Zero and his Hunters took action and shot at the Maverick, but Nicc took the full brunt of the assault. His body was in a bad state and was thrown by the monstrous Maverick, now identified as Vampro Alucard.

"Commander, Sigma, we've located the target!" Zero said over his communicator. "Engaging now!"

"I could tell from the screaming, Zero." Sigma said matter-of-factly. "All hunters, form around Zero and engage the enemy."

Zero's lower right arm and hand transitioned into an intricate arm cannon, or buster, and he prepared for battle. A few hunters attacked by shooting Alucard, but many of their shots had little effect on the Vampiric Maverick. Zero's shots were only a fair bit better, when Alucard lunged at him and bit at his shoulder. Zero squirmed only a little, before kneeing the Maverick in the gut several times to release him. He followed up with some punches all around, but the most it did was just daze the beastial Maverick.

Alucard threw several fire lasers all around. Armored Armadillo was able to use his shields in time to protect his team, most others were not as lucky, either being destroyed easily or were heavily damaged and writhing in pain.

"I love my Maverick Hunters fresh….." snarled Alucard in a sadistic tone.

Before he could finish off a hunter, he turned around as if he had sensed someone. He eventually felt a hard kick right to the kisser, which sent him a few feet away. He turned at his attacker, who was in a fighting stance. She was a humanoid Reploid, with short orange hair, blue eyes, and white undersuit. She wore an orange short sleeved top armor, had orange and silver arms, and wore black sweatpants with an orange sash, making it look like a fighting attire. All that could be seen of her robotic legs were her orange and white feet, which resembled more sneakers.

Her name was Nellia and was one of the very few Maverick Hunters that used next to no weapons at all. She instead used close quarters combat in fights, her own self-taught martial arts known as Daguva-Zeba Arts. Nellia wasn't single either, as she had a lovely girlfriend. Though she would still scare some Hunters with how capable she is and how easy she can break them down should they anger her.

Nellia charged in and began throwing punches and kicks at Alucard. The Maverick was doing a good defense in absorbing and blocking every shot she had, then threw a gravity attack at her, sending her hurling a bit. However, Nellia landed on her feet and clasped her hands together.

"ZUGOBATA!" she shouted and thrusted her hands, sending a red fireball in the shape of a dragon at him. Alucard countered with his own attack, then as they collided summoned fire pillars which hit several of the Hunters.

Sigma had enough standing around and jumped up with a downward punch, flinging the enemy back a bit.

"You insolent Hunter!" shrieked Alucard. "I'll turn you into dust!"

"An unlikely outcome of this scenario." Sigma said with a smug grin on his face.

Vampro Alucard glided right at Sigma. The Hunter Commander didn't even flinch and stopped him dead in his tracks, and gave him a loud boot right to the gut. Then picked him up, suplexed him right onto the floor and punched him right in the chest and hard.

" _Commander, Cinnamon is being dispatched via teleportation as we speak."_ Nana said over the comms.

"Affirmative." Said Sigma, casually throwing Alucard into some metal crates. "She may be busy…."

As soon as Alucard collided with the crates, an angelic blue light appeared around the soldiers. Then a female nurse Reploid appeared down, as if she were an angel descending from the heavens. She had blue eyes, fair lengthed blonde hair two white and blue buns, a white cap with the red cross, black arms and small angel wings on her back. She wore a white nurse's outfit with blue parts and accents, including a blue heart on her chest area, as well as white lower arms armor with four red rectangular gems, white gloves with blue crosses on them, white and blue boots, and long black stockings.

She was the young but helpful medic of the Hunters, Cinnamon. She jogged to some of the casualties. She was horrified at some of the bodies, moreso in the fact she would not be able to save everyone. As Alucard got up and charged, she puled out a small pistol which she shot to blind him and keep him back. Sigma proceeded to return to their fight as Cinnamon tended to a wounded Hunter.

"Hang in there, guy!" Cinnamon said, taking out her med kit and getting right to work. She took out a med torch and began fixing up one of her patients. It hurt a bit, but it was better than the pain they were already in.

Meanwhile, Sigma was dragging Alucard all across the area, not even breaking an oil sweat. Zero, while as impressed as his fellow hunters, was also irritated at himself. He felt useless and anxious, wanting to do something else than just stand idly by and watch as someone stronger took control.

"Commander, request permission to back up!" Zero shouted.

Sigma tossed Alucard a few meters away, then turned to Zero. "That may not be necessary, Zero. I understand your desire to help, but focus and patience is what's most important. This isn't yours to—"

Before he could finish, Sigma found himself bitten hard by the enemy Maverick. Sigma caught off guard is something that rarely happens, and the Hunters were shocked. His energy being drained, the Hunters attacked at the Maverick, but with the few seconds he was able to grab enough power to blast many of the Hunters to dust.

Cinnamon had fixed her fourth patient, but now she saw she had very little to work with. With Sigma brought to one knee, Zero stood his ground and charged up his buster. Vampro Alucard flew up and downwards at the Hunter, which is when Zero unleashed his power at point blank. The result was both Reploids being blown back, but ALucard was still airborne, while Zero had trouble standing up. As the Maverick was about to strike, he was blinded by a light from an explosion in the wall.

From the wall emerged a humanoid Reploid with an arm cannon in blue armor. The Reploid had light blue undersuit and a blue helmet with a line across it with a refined red gem on the end of it. It was the original Reploid himself: the Maverick Hunter X!

"Heh, sure love to make an entrance…." Zero snarked.

X ran to his commander. "Apologies for the delay, Commander Sigma. The traffic was impeccable, but I'm here now."

"Yes, you are." Sigma said. "I'm glad you made it. Now hurry and engage, X."

"Understood." X said and dashed ahead, laying a shot of his fist at Alucard.

Alucard countered back with some claw strikes of his own, but they barely scratched X's outer shell. X shot with several yellow energy bullets, which made contact and di only a slither of damage. Alucard would throw fire pillars X's way, but the Blue Bomber was able to jump dash backwards out of harms way. X fired a fully charged shot which sent him in Zero's direction.

Zero threw a massive kick to the chest which hurt a lot, but as he staggered, Alucard yanked Zero's hair, tugging the red Replloid along with him. X prepared a finishing shot, but stopped when he saw Alucard now holding Zero in a choke hold. He was willing to use Zero as a Reploid shield for him. X hesitated. This was common of him to stop dead in his tracks, when knowing to take action, he could hurt innocents and civilians. It was now happening once more.

With X struggling to shoot, Sigma rose to his feet and leaped up into the air and landed a massive clothesline on the both of them, Zero taking the blunt of the punishment, but Alucard not immune to all the damage suffered. Sigma picked him up and ignited his light saber. The Maverick Hunters would have two options in what to do with a neutralized Maverick. They would either destroy it, or detain it. Sigma realized how much of a danger a Maverick like Alucard was. It did not take him long to decide. Without hesitating, he drove his blade through Alucard's body. More and more as it slipped, the Maverick struggled and shrieked until he finally exploded and was done for.

"Commander Sigma to HQ." Sigma said through the comms. "Target destroyed. Preparing to head back."

" _Copy that, Commander."_ Said Nana through the comms. _"We'll be readying a detailed report by the time you return."_

The hunters began heading out. Many were lost to the battle, but Cinnamon was able to save and heal the 12 wounded and the 7 more that had survived the ordeal without much difficulty. Zero was the last to be attended to by Cinnamon. He really didn't like being nursed so much, but there was little he could do.

"I told you, Cinnamon, it's not a big deal!" said Zero.

"Oh it is a big deal if you're acting like a baby about it." Cinnamon teased. "Just one more adjustment to your boots…and all good. Now what flavor lollipop did you want?"

"Very funny." Zero rolled his eyes and got up.

X was walking towards the exit, the hole in the wall he had created on his way in. He was stopped by the voice of his own commander.

"X! A word, please."

X turned around to see his commander looking sternly at him and slowly approached him. He could see unhappy faces on Armadillo and Chill Penguin. He had a feeling what he was going to hear from his commander; the same kind of scolding they would give him.

"X, is there something you wish to talk about?" asked Sigma. "Are your combat systems not at full capacity?"

"N-No sir. They are." X said.

"So there is nothing wrong with your circuits or systems?"

"Not that I'm aware of…."

"Then why did you not attack? Why did you not finish the Maverick when you had the chance?"

X froze. He had to think hard on this question. He knew the answer why, it was because Zero was in danger. He could not risk any harm to one of his closest friends. But he wasn't sure if his Commander would accept an answer like that. It was clear with how he attacked even with Zero as a hostage and killed the Maverick.

"Your aiming capabilities are more than adequate to have done the task, and there was but a slight chance Zero would have been destroyed in the blast. You understand that, correct?" Sigma asked.

"Y-Yes sir. But I couldn't risk…." X said.

"Listen well, X." Sigma interrupted. "You know the risks and rewards of being a Hunter when you joined us four months ago, yet despite your promise, you continue to hesitate. I will say this once: there are times where you cannot hesitate in pulling the trigger. Any slight hesitation could end in a disastrous outcome. As Maverick Hunters, we must become both sword and shield to those that cannot defend themselves. Never forget that."

X said nothing for a moment, taking a bit to let Sigma's words sink in. While his intents to not fire were noble and selfless, he realized a bit that what he said was true. There may be times where he could not hesitate for even a moment, as that would only doom more than those already at risk. After thinking about and accepting this, X nodded seriously at his commander, who smiled and walked past him.

"Don't let it get to ya, X." Zero said, walking to him. "It was my fault for being careless. Guess we both have a lot to learn. Now come on, let's head back to base."

"Y-Yeah…." X nodded, falsely reassuring Zero.

The Hunters began heading out. But as Sigma was preparing, he saw something out the corner of his eyes. It was a human construction worker and a Reploid in some sort of argument. He could not hear all of what was happening or what they were discussing, but what he saw next shocked him. The human kicked his co-worker in between the groin, causing the bot to fall in pain. The human would proceed to punch him in the face and then continuously stomping on the Reploid.

At this point, Sigma heard nothing but screams of pain, pleads to stop, and massive cussing and abuse from his attacker. Sigma had almost thought that this human was just a Maverick, but his sensors saw no metal parts. No wiring or circuitry. Just flesh and blood. How could a human be so cruel to Reploids, ones he works with? More egregious is how no one else seemed to notice or care.

"Is something wrong, Commander?" Armored Armadillo snapped him out of his thoughts.

"It… it is nothing, Armadillo." Said Sigma. "I will tell later. Let's depart."

Armadillo nodded and proceeded to leave. Sigma looked back at the scene in disgust, as the Reploid laid on the ground, beaten and crying. Something like this could not happen. Never happen…

* * *

 **17:15 – MAVERICK HUNTER BASE – LONDON**

This high-tech, state of the art facility in the heart of London, England, was the main headquarters for the Maverick Hunters. Words here could not properly describe the base in its entirety. X and Zero entered the base and walked through its corridors. X had honestly gotten lost a couple of times in the base himself, but he eventually got the grip of things.

As X and Zero entered one of the control rooms, they saw someone being escorted away by two hunters. It was a purple Reploid almost entirely in armor. He had a black undersuit, advanced upper armor with white and yellow specs on his stomach, with purple lower arm and lower leg armors, and a large cannon over his shoulder, with what appeared to be a long golden magazine strapping it to his backpack. He also had no face to speak of, only a purple helmet with grey patterns on the sides and a tinted black T-visor, with a red "V" on his forehead. In general, he looked like a strange mixture of Boba Fett and Vegeta.

It was Vile, arguably the most hostile Maverick Hunter ever made. He often clashed with others, mostly X, refused to listen to orders, and would go too far on Mavericks in missions. X heard rumors on his way there that Vile was being discharged and labelled Maverick after allegedly killing some innocents the night before. Seeing him handcuffed and escorted out seemed to have confirmed those rumors.

"I knew Vile was going to end up like this sooner or later. He always was a jerk." He said.

"Jerk is putting it nicely, X." said Nellia, passing by. "Vile was just a straight up asshole."

"My sentiments exactly." Smiled Zero.

X chuckled a bit, but was still lost in thought. He was thinking of what Sigma had told him, how he needed to be better on the trigger; that he needed to protect and serve all those that cannot defend themselves. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt someone grab his waist tightly. X was shocked and tried breaking free….until he was softly bitten in the neck.

"Nom. Nom." Said the voice.

X sighed in relief and annoyance. "Not funny, Nana."

"You're right, X." she giggled, letting go. "It was hilarious."

"After just coming back from facing a semi-tough vampire Maverick, no. It really wasn't." said Zero.

Nana was the chief navigator for the Hunters, who knew to take the job seriously but wasn't afraid to be laidback and borderline adorable. She had a black undersuit with a beige armor with orange accents on her upper chest, arms, and legs. She also had two 7's on her chestplates, to signify some sort of luck, a belt in the shape of a horseshoe, short pink hair with one white fringe on her forehead, blue eyes, and a wireless headset with red buttons on her head, with an antenna on her left side.

In truth, X always had some sort of admiration for Nana. Her usefulness and cute personality always seemed endearing to him. Not to mention she was kind of cute, though X would never say that out loud. He wanted to keep his relationship with her professional, so as to not endanger the both of them.

"By the way, Commander Sigma wanted to see you, myself, and Zero." She said. "He says it's important."

"Hopefully, it won't be to rub in where we both scrapped up again." Zero joked.

"The commander isn't like that, Zero. Now let's just go." Said X, nonchalantly.

They walked a bit to the main control room, and found Sigma with another female British Reploid. Zero had thought he saw an angel. She was physically older than Cinnamon, yet younger than one of their scientists in Alia. She was a humanoid with long brunette hair, green eyes, white limbs, and red armor with blue patterning, in the form of a dress. The end of her dress had gold lining, and the chest was covered with some sort of banner with the Repliforce insignia on it. The girl smiled sweetly as she saw her company approaching her. Zero blushed a tiny bit. He was not good with women, despite girls finding him extremely attractive.

"X. Zero. Thank you for coming." Said Sigma, then gestering to the girl. "This is Iris. She's the younger sister of Patton, Colonel of the Repliforce."

The girl called Iris bowed respectfully to the two. "It's an honor to meet you, X and Zero. I've heard so much about your exploits."

"Well, that's shocking. Considering I'm still B-Class, and Zero's still A-Class, at best." X said modestly.

"No need for modesty, X. I see you as a great hero, as well as Zero, quite much!" Iris said, holding their hands.

Nana was getting very figgity with how close she was to X. She thought Iris looked cute alongside Zero, but Nana had always had a crush on the Blue Bomber. The prospect of Iris potentially stealing X away was nerve-racking.

"Ahem!" Sigma cleared his throat. "Iris will be staying with us as an intern and assistant navigator. I want you three to show her the ropes and how we do things here. X and Zero can give her a tour of the base."

"With all due respect, sir, why can't you just brief her yourself?" asked Nana.

"Unfortunately, I need to go to Professor Rimmer's estate in Fulham." Sigma explained. "It's of upmost importance, so I leave you three to tutor her."

"Not really the tutoring kind of person myself, sir." Zero said.

"Don't worry, Zero. It should not take me that long. I know she will be in good hands with you all." Sigma walked over to Zero's ears and then whispered. "Besides….I think she likes you."

Zero's face turned redder after that, X just smiling at Zero's reaction. With that, Sigma took his leave and the four began their bonding.

"Humans say that the greatest threat to this planet is the Mavericks." Sigma thought as he left. "But could they also be Mavericks as well? Only Professor Rimmer could find those answers…"

 **TO BE CONTINUED…..**

* * *

 **(A/N: Aaaand that does it for the first chapter. I'm sorry if it was so long, but I wanted to give people a grasp of what some characters could be like, and especially how strng an adversary Sigma is. Chapter 2 will hopefully be coming soon, but hope you liked this. Thanks again, and see you for the next one.)**


	2. Chapter 2: Limitless Madness

**Maverick Hunter X – Next-Level Insurrection**

 **Chapter 2: Limitless Madness**

 **(A/N: I am back with the next chapter. This one will have more to do with Sigma's fall from grace, and the seeds planted for his turn to Maverick. Enjoy it folks!)**

 **DISCLAIMER: It is heavily advised that this story be read with awesome Mega Man music playing in the background. I do not own any** _ **Mega Man X**_ **related characters or themes. All characters from** _ **Mega Man**_ **,** _ **Mega Man X**_ **,** _ **Mega Man Zero**_ **,** _ **Mega Man ZX**_ **, and** _ **Mega Man Legends**_ **are all owned by Capcom. Please support the official release!**

* * *

X and Zero had some rather redundant duties as Maverick Hunters, but this was probably one of their strangest. They were serving as guides to the new young intern, Iris, as she was staying as an assistant navigator. It was not exactly a job but more of a thing to do for newbies to be taught. But X didn't think he was that good a teacher.

For now, though, they were left giving Iris a nice tour around the base. X thought Iris was nice. She was very sweet and sung nothing but praises to nearly everyone she came across. He didn't think there was anything inheritly bad about her. Zero, meanwhile, felt his heart pulsating like mad the more he was with her. This wasn't the first time he had been in love. He had previously dated another hunter named Layer, but they broke up when Layer got ousted after being caught in a scandal. But Iris seemed different. His heart felt more alive when he with Iris. Was this true love?

X began showing her around the needed rooms. "So this is the training room. The Maverick Hunters perform simulated combat to be prepared for any kind of situation we find ourselves in."

Iris looked around the room. It was immeasurably huge, with dark blue walls in a dome shape, with a few windows near the top for onlookers and supporters to operate it. The group turned around and saw a white deer-based Reploid walk in, nudging X aside. He had fire for antlers, blue and red armoring, and an orange undersuit, and looked like a guy that enjoyed fighting a lot. This was Flame Stag, and Nellia followed close by.

"X, Zero…and whoever this is." Said Flame Stag. "I suggest you leave. I need to teach this sham some manners."

"Manners?" Nellia said "If I recall, Flame Stag, you're the one that insulted me _and_ Lena!"

"Because you are not a true fighter. Daguva-Zeba Arts, what a joke. Did you steal that from a 2000 J-Drama at all?"

"You know damn well I'm a good fighter, even if I haven't retired a single Maverick! I made my own fighting style to showcase it to the world."

"I doubt the world would want to be students of this pitiful martial arts form…"

"Oh, you stepped in it now!" Nellia shouted and charged at Flame Stag.

X rolled his eyes and chuckled nervously. Nellia and Flame Stag would constantly go at each other, both verbally and physically. Stag would always be a jackass, and Nellia was very quick to piss off. Usually, when they went at it in combat, Flame Stag would be the one to be left standing.

Nellia was determined to see a different result. She jumped up to kick Flame Stag, but he caught it and slammed her into the ground. He stomped onto her gut a few times, then turned his back to her, believing it to be over. If there was one thing she could not stand more than people seeing her as just "the lesbian hunter", it was being mocked or underestimated.

"KYUUBATA!" Nellia jumped up and spinkicked him with literal fiery tenacity. It hit hard. She then unleashed quick hard palm strikes and ankle hits. Flame Stag was surprised and had little reaction time to counter, barely able to block, but had less time before he found himself face down, with one of her legs wrapped around his neck, and her other wrenching his arm in a rough armbar.

Iris was almost cringing at what she saw, but Zero found an odd perverse pleasure in it that was almost weird yet satisfying to watch. Stag screamed as he felt a rotator cuff snap, and was tapping out. Nelia released the hold and stood tall, satisfied with her work.

"Well, if my fighting style's pitiful…then you're just pathetic, Stagger." Nellia winked and walked over to the boys and Iris.

"That was…an interesting sight." Commented Iris.

Nellia giggled and was about to spill some friendly banter to the trio, but was jumped from behind. Flame Stag did not take kindly to his loss and threw fire-based punches to Nellia's body. Zero wasted no time in firing a green buster shot to Flame Stag's face to get him off of her. X took the time to help Nellia up.

"Disgraceful." Said Flame Stag. "For you to take that punk's side."

"The only one disgraceful here is you, Flame Stag." Said X. "You're nothing but a sore loser!"

Flame Stag merely scoffed and walked out. A green chameleon hunter with a red left eye, Sting Chameleon, just laughed at everything happening, mocking the fiery jackass Reploid before sticking his long tongue out to the group. X just ignored him; Chameleon was always a cruel prankster and was never a fan of him.

"Sorry you had to see that, Iris." X apologized. Zero bowed as well.

"It's quite alright." Iris said. "It sure was a learning experience. Anyway, where to next…?"

Zero took control of the tour and continued on, taking Iris's hand. X felt that it was like Zero was apologizing instead. They did look cute together, too….

* * *

 **18:30 – PROFESSOR RIMMER'S ESTATE – FULHAM, LONDON**

A trip from the heart of London to the neighboring town of Fulham was exhausting for Sigma, but it was worth it to see one woman: Professor Kristine Rimmer, one of the foremothers of the Reploid race. She was someone in her mid-40's and had medium length light brown hair. She normally wore a magenta buttoned up shirt, white slacks and heels, and a short-sleeved blue jewel-neck sweater. Tonight, she was enjoying a nice summer evening when Sigma arrived. They were sitting in the dining room, having nice cups of tea.

"If there's one thing I enjoy about our visits, Professor, it's the pleasantries and condiments that come with it." Praised Sigma.

"I am glad you think that, Commander." Said Rimmer. "But I know you didn't drive six miles from Maverick Hunter headquarters just to have tea and crackers. I assume you wish to discuss the recent Maverick activities happening here…"

"Yes, and much more. The continent has seen more action in these past few months than in the three World Wars combined. It's become quite a load for us to handle."

Professor Rimmer nodded. She was aware that Maverick attacks were not exclusive to Europe, nor was the Maverick Hunters' reach. But they mostly stay confined there as that is where a vast majority of Maverick crime has occurred recently. Besides, the rest of the world had Repliforce and other similar groups to deal with them.

"But…it seems that the humans are as great Mavericks as we Reploids." Sigma continued. The professor stopped sipping her tea. She did not like Sigma's sudden shift in tone.

"Please elaborate, commander." She said.

"During today's mission, I saw something disturbing. A human mistreating and physically abusing his Reploid coworker. No one saw it, nor did they care if they did. And as I arrived here, I noticed a group a human thugs beating on another female Reploid with cricket bats. They treated her like she was filth. Like she did not matter to them. I must ask…how can we simply stand aside and do nothing to this violence, yet not ignore the vile ways of our kind?"

Professor Rimmer took a deep breath. She was afraid that Sigma would ask something like this. Humankind was not so squeaky clean as the Reploids believed, and Sigma has learned this firsthand. The Reploids were also still a race not so universally accepted as she would have liked. With a small sip of her tea, she gathered her thoughts and began to speak.

"Unfortunately, when change comes, there is a massive divide. There are some accepting of this change. Some that embrace you as new companions. But there are others that do not. They fear what is different because they think of what could happen. Change and variety can be difficult and scary to people, but eventually, we as humans come to accept this change. But it takes time for this to truly be accepted by the masses."

"Time we may not have, professor." Said Sigma. "Our duty as Maverick Hunters is to quash any and all forces that threaten the innocent, is it not? Then how can we even do such, if we cannot even harm those outside our kind that do just as bad?"

"I understand your concern, commander. But we as humans are very vain and arrogant. We have trouble accepting those not like us. But eventually, they will understand. X has not given up on our kind. Neither should you."

Sigma was about to counter back, but realized it was useless at this point to argue. It seemed that the professor would not give a definite and conclusive answer, nor a solution. He seemed willing to leave, but he stayed a bit longer for one thing.

"It's interesting you bring up X." he said. "He has been doing a commendable job…but I feel he could do more. His judgment and abilities are very impressive, but he tends to hesitate to act quick in moments of required decisiveness."

Professor Rimmer chuckled. "I figured he would be like that. Worrying too much is one of X's finer qualities… and a source of his potential as well."

Sigma looked confused. Potential, in worrying? That didn't make sense. "I'm not sure I follow, professor. What do you mean, potential?"

"X's power lies within his emotions, and the limitless potential that he and the Reploid race brings. During the early days of the war, I studied robotics and engineering at the University of Oxford, under the tutilege of one of the greatest minds in history: Dr. Thomas Light. He was a father to me and taught me everything that I needed to know. As the war progressed, the Western European nations charged him the duty of creating the ultimate combat robot: an android that could replicate human emotions, learn from experiences in battle, and turn the tide in the favor.

"Dr. Light despised creating weapons of war. He refused many times, until the United Kingdom gave him an offer worth listening to: if successful, this machine would be the prototype. The first of a new breed of machines, which we later dubbed the Reploids. However, by the time he was finally willing to cooperate, the Doctor grew ill. I knew he would not be able to do or finish the project. Therefore, I took on the task of designing and programming X myself…"

Sigma listened intently. This seemed very interesting to hear, with the birth and creation of his kind. He was interested in X more now than before.

"It was a simple idea to put on paper. But the process of creating it was not so." She continued. "I worked excruciating hours to create the right look and feel to X. I had never built a robot on my own before either, which meant I needed to work harder and make less mistakes. As the war progressed for years, I continued my work. I lost sleep many times. Days of exhaustion, weeks of pain, months of sleeplessness eventually took its toll.

"Worse still, it was difficult to program chips and wiring to replicate actual human emotions. It is simple for sentient life to feel, but difficult to convey it. But I would not falter. I could not. And so, after nearly three years of hard work, it was complete. X was finished and ready for his purpose…"

"So he was ready for combat, to be used in World War 3?" asked Sigma.

The Professor sighed. "To the nations that pushed me, yes. He would have been. But to me…he was not. I did not make him to be a war machine or soldier. I made him to create new life. To wake him up and then immediately send him into war would be like giving a five-year old a gun and telling them to shoot their own pet. It would not feel right. X needed time to be integrated. His emotions and experiences in the war could have shaped him into a hero…or a monster.

"I did not take the risk of sending him out to kill. The European nations pestered me, but I would not budge. By then, the war ended and humanity was rebuilding. I took the time to release X and have him live with me as I taught him everything that diagnostics and testing could not. When I felt he was ready, I showed him to the world. I feared they would not accept him, but the governments approved. People were in awe, and I won many awards. But I did not do that for recognition, rather…to ensure robots could exist as equals to mankind…"

"A fascinating story, Professor." Said Sigma. "I'm in awe of what X represented. But what kind of potential did you mean?"

"X was designed to think, feel, and act like humans can, like with you Reploids. But I made him with more emotion, more humanity, than the ones that would go off the assembly lines. His raw emotion is one source of his potential. That is why you see him hesitate. He cares so much, that he feels, mourns, angers, and loves more than any robot I have seen. But…such a powerful thing could be dangerous. If X were to lose control of his emotions, he could be a danger to not just Reploids, but the entire world."

"So that is why he hesitates. Because he's that compassionate. But you said one source. Is there another?"

"Why yes. His Special Weapons System. You may be unaware of this…because so is X. When designing him as a combat unit, I took into consideration what kind of powers to give him. Through inspiration of old 1980's video games, I installed a system in X that would allow him to copy and use the abilities and powers of those he defeats where he would learn through his experiences in battle. The process, however, would be slow and the abilities are locked.

"As he battles, his optical sensors would keep track of some of his opponent's abilities. When a Maverick uses special attacks or something unique enough, the optical sensors scan and download into his memory circuits and X-Buster, making them his to use. But they only extend as far as what he views, but defeating more of the same kind of enemies allows his abilities to enhance. The powers he has are near unending, and if matured enough, or used to its full extent, X could quite possibly be the most powerful warrior on the planet. He may even be stronger than you, Sigma."

"Stronger than me…? That is…unfathomable. It's surreal to believe." Sigma said. "What other powers does he have?"

"X has several modes that represent the abilities he can potentially gain. These include, but not limited to, fire, water, wind, light, earth, electric, ice, and cutter. But he may be able to find and create new ones, or improvise his own uses."

Sigma took a few moments to gather his thoughts. He gained a bit more of an admiration of X and his abilities, and now seemed to want to bring them out. The issue was that X could not bring it out on his own. He needed something to push him, much as this racism issue is pushing Sigma. Something needed to be done for both….

Sigma got up and began to leave. "I thank you for the discussion this evening, professor. I shall be on my way."

"It was an honor, commander." Professor Rimmer said as he left. But she could not get over a chilling feeling that something was wrong…

* * *

 **19:45 – FULHAM, LONDON**

Sigma began walking through the streets. He denied a ride back to Hunter Base and chose to take in the sights and sounds of a London night. The city was quiet but lively. The chavs were minimal and hardly noticeable. The double-decker buses were bustling. And stalkers were sexually assaulting a Reploid Pop Group.

….wait, what did I just write down?

Sigma turned an alley corner, hearing screams. He looked over to see a shocking sight. He had seen two acts of violence by humans onto machines, but now this was crossing it. A male in his late 40's was cornering the Reploid pop group, Beats of Magma, consisting of three Reploids that wore black dresses similar to Cinnamon's. Their names were Cumin, Jasmine, and Saffron.

"Ooh, the Beats of Magma!" he shouted, in excitement. "How I have longed to have you girls…."

"G-Get away, you creep!" shouted Saffron.

"We aren't some…pervert's playthings!" shouted Jasmine.

"I hate you!" defiantly screamed Cumin.

The man only laughed and began holding the girls tight. It was exciting for him to be in the pressence of beautiful robots. Sigma knew exactly where this was going, and he was sick of standing around. He readied his saber for combat, but just as he was ready to charge in, a Reploid dropped down with his own saber and swiftly charged in, slashing the man repeatedly. In mere seconds, the man was cut in half and screaming in agonizing pain, before giving in to the pain and blood loss.

The Reploid was a dashing, prince-like humanoid, with red hair in a ponytail, with it covering it right side of his face, and blue eyes. He wore black tights, a high-collar fuchsia jacket with gold linings, a cyan vest underneath, white gloves, black tights, and fuchsia boots, along with a beret as well. Sigma recognized this gentleman. He was Repliforce Lieutenant Elpizo, a graceful fighter but ruthless in his tactics.

Elpizo scanned the man he had just killed and grinned. Then he turned to the pop group. "Are you ladies alright?"

The girls frantically jumped up and surrounded him all excitedly. They were more than happy to be rescued by him.

"Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou THANK YOU!" shouted Cumin.'

"We were nearly goners, Lieutenant!" said Saffron.

"You saved us so! How can we repay you?" asked Jasmine.

The girls swarmed him for a minute or two, Elpizo looked very uncomfortable. He was a fairly humble person on the surface, but he was often uneasy around his admirers. Takinhg a deep breath and blushing, he spoke. "This…is embarassing to ask. But for my colleagues… can I have….your autographs?"

"Absolutely!" the Beats of Magma said in unison.

They took out a marker and signed their names on a few pictures of themselves and gave them to him. They kissed his cheek and ran off, giddy as heck. Elpizo scratched his head, slightly embarrassed, then regained his composure at the sight of Sigma. The two stared at each other for a good moment before Sigma spoke.

"Let's talk."

* * *

 **3 MINUTES LATER…**

Sigma and Elpizo were walking onto a bare high-street, leaving the neighborhood of Fulham and onto Kensington and Chelsea. After several minutes of friendly banter, Sigma began changing the subject to something more serious.

"So you're well aware of it?" he asked. "The humans' acts against our kind."

"Indeed, Commander." Elpizo replied. "I've seen it everywhere, nearly every time I go out. How long have you known?"

"I have been blind to the humans' racism until today. I saw no less than three instances of abuse against Reploids. I told the professor of this, and she merely stated we needed more time to be accepted. That I should not lose hope."

"Rimmer is a fool for thinking her kind to be that compassionate or patient. That or she isn't as smart as she lets on. As for me, I have seen this violence since the day I was created. Humans are disgusting. Using us for labor, war, and even…intimacy. They're fucking deplorable."

Sigma shuddered when Elpizo brought up the intimacy part. He had heard rumors of humans using Reploids to purge sexual desires, and vice versa, but he would just brush them off as the thought made him physically ill. Perhaps as ill as thinking of the acts he had seen today from humankind. He wanted to deal with them so much…

"If only I was not so attached to a responsibility, I could do something about this injustice. But my hands are tied for the time…"

"Then try untying them, Commander…" Elpizo flippantly said. Sigma stopped walking and turned to him.

"What are you suggesting, Lieutenant?" he asked.

"You believe in justice for Reploids, do you not commander? But how can there be justice if the humans hold us back?"

"That is…a valid point. But what can be done? The governments woud not heed us."

"Then topple them. Assemble groups of followers to lead a crusade against these wretched organics! This abuse and corruption cannot be ignored. The humans… they are pests, and you must deal with them. Nay…. _we_ must deal with them!"

Sigma looked at Elpizo. It was unlike a high ranking Repliforce member to suggest any sort of Maverick activity, and was highly suspect. It did not feel right to hear this and felt some sort of need to arrest him on the spot. But… he couldn't.

Sigma thought long and hard, never looking away from the Lieutenant. He was right; the human supremacy and corruption was something that could not be ignored or left unchecked. He had seen that even humans are capable of becoming Mavericks, and it could not stand. He thought long and hard on this, and thought of his highest ranking Hunters. Surely, they would agree and follow his decision, even if their motives were different.

"I cannot disagree at all, Elpizo." Sigma grinned. "These humans must be taught a lesson, and those that defend them must die alongside them. I know just how to deal with these termites…"

Elpizo chuckled in turn. "I knew if one bot would understand, it would be you… Lord Sigma."

He then bowed to his new master, grinning wider.

* * *

 **20:15 – MAVERICK HUNTER HQ – LONDON**

"And finally, this is the development lab." Said Zero.

Zero led Iris onto the last stop of their tour, which was the development lab. It looked to be an average late 21st century laboratory, with many high tech equipment and experiments onto its tables, and holographic monitors on the walls. Among the chief Reploids in this lab was a humanoid woman with long blonde hair with a thin, sexy look. She had blue eyes, wore a black undersuit with pink and red upper armor, arms and legs, and a white chest, which some could swear was to show off her D-cup breasts.

She was Alia, one of the top scientists and researchers in the Maverick Hunters organization. She was originally a navigator for the Hunters, but was shifted away into the science capacity, as she was not a good nav. She was hounded by complaints of not being clear in navigation, annoying in constantly calling, or would state the overly obvious instead of new facts. Sigma was kind enough to put her in a scientific role, which she shone in developing new tech and weapons for the Hunters.

Alia turned to the trio and smiled. "Hello X, and Zero. Nice of you to drop by."

"Always nice seeing you, Alia." X smiled. He always thought Alia was nice, even if she was not the best at everything.

"Who is that? Is she your new girlfriend, Zero?" Alia asked.

Zero blushed like mad. "N-No, not at all! She's the Colonel's sister, and our intern! Her name's Iris."

Iris greeted Alia politely, but Alia was unsure. "You're sleeping with the Colonel's daughter, huh? Good luck with that." Now Zero was getting even more flustered. X couldn't help but chuckle at all this.

"S-stop that Alia! Have you been talking with Layer lately?!" Zero asked.

"No. I have, however, been fixing your Z-Saber and making improvements on its performance. Now it's done."

Alia handed Zero the handle to his own energy blade. It looked to be a bit more refined than Sigma's. Zero was built as a swordsman in mind, but he had recently been having issues in handling his saber, so he had Alia check it out in the past week to get it fixed up. Alia had appeared to make some rather noticeable tweaks in its design and its performance, but Zero would need to test the latter out in combat.

"Well at least you got this right. Thanks." He said.

Alia smiled a bit, but still felt a bit underappreciated.

"It was still nice meeting you, Alia. Though Zero and I aren't… well.." said Iris, politely.

"I understand. I just wanted to tease him for some reason." Alia smiled.

Zero rolled his eyes, and the trio walked off. They eventually finished the tour at the main control room, which looked much grander and bigger than the ones they were in before. Iris walked towards one of the computers and systems, and sat besides Nana.

"I take it you liked the tour?" asked Nana.

"Yes. The base is wonderful." Said Iris. "Nearly everyone is nice, and X and Zero were great guides."

"Well, that's…. nice to hear."

Nellia was talking to her girlfriend over her comms. Nana warned Nellia time and again that calling Lena was not a responsible use of her comm systems, but these would fall on deaf ears.

" _Man, these nights haven't been the same without ya, luv."_ Said Lena on the other line.

"I know, Lena. But these Mavs won't let up. We pound 'em hard, and they keep coming—okay, that did not come out right." Nellia said, blushing.

" _Tee. Didn't know ya missed me_ that _much."_

"Much…much more than you realize. But I got the weekend off, so you and I can have all the time in the world."

" _Well that's fantastic, because I couldn't think of any—huh?! What the fu-?"_

Lena's change in tone concerned her greatly. Nellia tried to talk, but heard loud noises on the other end of the line. "Lena? Lena, are you there?! What's happening!?"

" _Nellia, we got company! Our home's shakin' up! Get over here as fast as-!"_

The lone suddenly died. All she got was static now. Nellia shouted her lover's name again and again, but nothing. She couldn't reconnect. Something was wrong, and an eavesdropping X knew it. Not long after, the alarms in the base blared. Nana and Iris, the latter just getting settled into the role of navigator, began their work on finding the reasons as the other navigators got to work.

Nana was the first to report it. "Looks like trouble. Massive Maverick readings detected at Point 5567: The Sky Lagoon near Sunderland."

Sky Lagoon was an aerial city in England. During World War III, several high-tech floating sanctuaries were created to keep civilians safe during the massive crises. These sanctuaries would become their own cities after the conflict died down, and the Sky Lagoon was the first of its kind. Losing it would be a devastating blow to history and England.

"Looks like I got back in time!" said a voice. X and Zero were happy to hear this one.

The voice was a blue, eagle-based Reploid, with a yellow and red "mask" on his head, with blue and violet wings, yellow details on his body, gold talons for feet, a green gem on his forehead, and a retractible large arm cannon on his right arm. This was Storm Eagle, an air-based Maverick Hunter and one of the most respected Hunters around. Nearly every hunter held Eagle in high regard, and X and Zero had the upmost respect for the bird. He seemed to make everything so much better just by being there.

"Storm Eagle! Am I glad to see you!" said Nellia. "My call with Lena got cut off and her home is under attack."

"I'm sure she'll be okay, but we need to be sure." Said Eagle. "Nana, Iris, have you contacted Commander Sigma?"

"I've been trying myself," said Iris, "but I can't get a hold of him. Something is jamming the radio waves towards him…."

X took initiative and walked off, preparing to depart. Zero looked concerned at X's sudden determination, but he knew where X was coming from. Innocent lives were in danger. They could not sit idly by, nor could they wait for Sigma to arrive before deploying.

"Nana, I'm teleporting out now." X said. "If anyone wants to join me, they're welcome to."

"I'm with X." said Zero.

"Then so am I! I have to help my friends up there!" shouted Nellia, determined.

"I will lead a team to assist as well." Said Storm Eagle. "Iris, contact Repliforce. We may need assistance."

"Already on it." Iris hurridly began pressing buttons.

"Is this really wise?" Nana said cautiously. "Standard protocol states we need to wait for approval from high-ranking Hunters to begin assembling missions. Besides, Iris has no training in any of this!"

"There isn't any time, Nana!" shouted Zero. "If we wait, then people will die! We have to move now!"

"Try to understand Nana that Sigma may not be there all the time. We need to act immediately, and I will damned if I let anyone suffer on my watch!"

Zero's reasoning was very direct and more understandable, but Nana always felt warm in her heart hearing X act so selfless and noble. She saw the care in him that he could not let anyone die or be hurt, it's one quality that made her fall for him. After a moment to fantasize, she shook off and nodded.

"Very well. I will begin the navigation systems for your arrival."

X nodded, and then he, Zero, Nellia, and a few more hunters were surrounded in a light colored after their personal preference, teleporting off. Storm Eagle also flew off to help, as Nana and Iris began their work. They could only hope they weren't too late…

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

 **(A/N: That does it for Chapter 2! This was a sucker to get done and took just over two weeks to do. I may get some critiques on Zero's portrayal here, but it will pay off eventually. The next chapter will probably take longer, but I hope you enjoyed this one! Enjoy it and see ya for the next one!)**


	3. Chapter 3: Burning Down the Heavens

**Maverick Hunter X – Next-Level Insurrection**

 **Chapter 3: Burning Down the Heavens**

 **(A/N: I know that this took way longer than it should have-almost a month, in fact-but Chapter 3 is finally here. I got distracted and busy with real life, which is why it took so long, and I also intended to have Sigma's rebellion happen here, but I felt it would be poorly paced. So it will have to wait. Anyway, here goes the chapter)**

 **DISCLAIMER: It is heavily advised that this story be read with awesome Mega Man music playing in the background. I do not own any** _ **Mega Man X**_ **related characters or themes. All characters from** _ **Mega Man**_ **,** _ **Mega Man X**_ **,** _ **Mega Man Zero**_ **,** _ **Mega Man ZX**_ **, and** _ **Mega Man Legends**_ **are all owned by Capcom. Please support the official release!  
**

* * *

 **21:00 – SKY LAGOON**

X, Zero, and Nellia were to work hard and fast for this mission. Mavericks were attacking the floating city of Sky Lagoon, and if it were to be destroyed or crash, the results would be disastrous. The trio landed on a highway and series of buildings. They saw the futuristic and high-tech city, and it was not looking good.

Several buildings were catching fire or crumbling a lot, some civilians trapped underneath the rubble, and the city seemed to be on lockdown. The Hunters had to work fast and get the city clear. X, not even waiting, dashed through his boots into the mission, ready to stop the Mavericks.

Nellia jumped off as well, and ran off towards her lover's home. She needed to find Lena quickly. She lost contact with her a bit before they arrived and was fearing the worst. As she rushed through the city, wall-jumping back and forth, she saw small Mechaniloid Mavericks. Though Maverick Reploids were not uncommon, Maverick Mechaniloids were far moreso, because they had no sense of will and were mostly just machines. As such, it was easier for Mechaniloids to turn, as opposed to the normal Reploids.

Nellia wasted little time in attacking. She punches, chopped, kicked, and wailed on any Maverick that came within striking distance. Some human-like Mavericks shot at her and she spun like an upside-down top towards them, hitting them with repeated kicks in this manner like a Hitmontop, until they were on the ground, unable to get up. Spiky wheels also rolled towards her, but she spun and thrust kicked them with a fiery passion.

"KOMANUU!" she shouted, crushing them.

Zero had to deal with airborne enemies coming through from the skies. Some were trying to collide with buildings or at the innocents in the city, so Zero had to work fast and not doddle around. Fortunately, Iris had been getting slightly used to the navigations to provide him enough help to get him through.

" _Zero, bogies at 12, 3, and 6 o'clock!"_ she said.

"Not for long." Zero said confidently. Without much of a second thought, Zero jumped up into the sky, ignited his saber, and slashed at the Mavericks with peak precision and speed, destroying them in one group, then another, and finally the last. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a bigger Maverick with four legs approaching injured people, and dove down to spin-slash before Iris could even point it out.

Iris was in awe of Zero's finesse and power, how he was able to destroy the Mavericks in great timing. She felt her heart skipping so many beats, as if it were going to burst in mere moments from now. She let out a blissful sigh and began to realize she was in love….

"So dreamy…"

" _I'm sorry, why are you dreaming?"_ asked X.

Iris blushed like mad. She just realized she was talking through her headset while daydreaming. "N-N-No reason, X! Forgive me! It's been a long night."

"It's about to get even longer, ladies!" said a hunter. "We need air support soon to evacuate the civi—AAAGH!"

X quickly jumped to try helping a few of the hunters, but most of them had been shut down by incoming standing ball Mechaniloids. X immediately started shooting, but they curled up in a ball, deflecting the shots all over.

" _X, those Mavericks' shells are made of hard Wiltanium metal!"_ Nana said. _"You need to shoot the center pieces when they pop up!"_

"Got it!" shouted X. He bided his time, then carefully and decisively shot at the cores when they popped, destroying the Mavericks.

Nana put her headset on one-way silent so that her voice wouldn't go through for now. She turned to Iris for a minute. "Quite unprofessional of you." She said teasingly.

Iris blushed again, and turned her radio off to speak with her. "I apologize. It's just…I heard stories of how amazing Zero was. But I never seen him in action until now. He acts with such precision and finesse. He's awe-inspiring to look at. I think… I might be in love."

"I understand." Nana said. "I can relate to that. I get a little warm-hearted when thinking of…certain hunters, too. But I try to stay on task. It's not viable or professional to think of our comrades as potential partners. Regardless of how kind, strong, or…sexy…they may be…"

Nana immediately shook her head from her thoughts. She needed to stay focused, and immediately turned her radio back on. She glanced over to Iris, who had a mischievous look on her face. She knew Nana had something on her mind…or rather, someone. But she turned her radio back on. She had to concentrate.

Nellia raced through the city, getting as many people clear as she could. But her girlfriend's safety was what she was focused on most. After leading a family out of the city, Nellia dashed through, reaching Lena's apartment building. "Lena!" she shouted.

Nellia looked up and shouted her name again, hoping to see her in the window. To her shock, she did see Lena in the window, but it wasn't a pretty sight. She was hanging over the window, barely conscious, and looked severely injured. Before doing anything, Nellia noticed Lena slightly moving and shouted again.

"Lena!"

Lena slowly moved and looked down and saw her Hunter girlfriend, silently reaching for her from five stories up. Nellia was about to enter the building when she heard a loud roar.

" _Nellia, we got a big Maverick reading! A huge one, in fact!"_ Iris said through her radio.

"How huge?" asked Nellia. Her answer came all too soon.

She saw a giant dragon-like mechaniloid flying right towards her. It was green in color with bronze accents, silver jet wings, sharp claws and red eyes. This was the Eregion, and it was big and mean, and tearing the city apart.

"Strike that last comment from the records." Nellia said.

" _Will do."_ Said Nana, nonchalantly.

Nellia saw it tearing apart the city with its blue beams that it shot out of its mouth. She knew she couldn't save everyone from it, but she had to at least save some of them. With all the strength and speed she could muster, she ran up the apartment walls, trying as fast as she could to get her lover out. She was able to run half-way up until she got a warning from Iris.

" _Nellia, it's gonna fire at the building_!" she shouted. _"Watch out!"_

Nellia was forewarned and just before the Maverick could fire, she leapt up, her arm stretched out for Lena. Her girlfriend's hand was stretched as far as she could, and Nellia was in fingertips of her grasp…but it was not to be. The Eregion's beam hit the building, and the ones around it, flinging Nellia back down towards the ground. Before she could hit ground zero, though, she was caught by someone. When she opened her eyes, she saw her savior: an officer of Repliforce.

The Reploid in question was a white Pegasus-inspired young man, with red accents along his wings, eye lids, and vest. His upper torso was in the shape of said vest, but with a royal prince theme to it. He also had a black undersuit, black and red armlets, gold and blue belt, a green gem on his nose, and the Repliforce insignia on his head. He was a young but serious captain of Repliforce's Air Force, and he answered to The Skiver.

"Looks like we made it, m'lady." Said Skiver.

Nellia looked up at him, happy to see Storm Eagle and Repliforce come through, but also upset they could not have come sooner. Her girlfriend was now dead with several others, as Repliforce was now in a big fight with the giant dragon mechaniloid. Their commander, Storm Owl, unleashed a furious twister attack at the beast, which only slowed it down at best. The beast attacked with its claws at the fighters, knocking some down.

On the surface, however, X and Zero felt some rumbling as well, from the underground engine chambers. They quickly rushed there and were horrified to find many dead bodies of guards. It didn't take a genius to realize that this was no random Maverick attack; this was a very carefully planned terrorist attack. They eventually reached the engine room, where they found explosions and broken equipment everywhere, along with a fellow Hunter they recognized.

He was a red dragon-based Reploid, with blue hands, black eyelids, a silver chest armor, and green bean necklace. He was Magma Dragoon, one of the strongest and most dependable Hunter that could be found. He turned over and saw X and Zero, then had a solumn look on his face.

"Dragoon. What are you doing here?" asked Zero.

"X, Zero. The Mavericks have just taken out the city's engines and control schematics." He explained. "I tried to stop them, but it was too late. This city is going down in a few minutes…."

X and Zero looked at him shocked, but unsurprised, then looked at one another. They had a hard time struggling to believe his entire story. It was easy to accept that the room was damaged and the engines were done. What they could not believe was that any Mavericks of this caliber could have come this way and done this, and left a massive trail of bodies behind as well.

"Dragoon, where is this Maverick?" asked X. "You're the only one we saw, and not just any random Reploid could have done all of this."

"Not to mention you weren't called here, and the trail of dead bodies leading up here…" Zero explained. "They had some scathing burn marks. And the damage in here doesn't look like something any Maverick can accomplish…"

Dragoon took a step back. He was not so easily prepared for them to figure this all out just through those observations and hints. In fact, he hadn't even realized he left so many obvious hints. He was caught red-handed now. Chuckling, Dragoon looked at the two and began laughing.

"You two aren't as stupid as you look!" Dragoon shouted and threw a ball of fire from his hands, which Zero barely countered with a buster shot. Zero gritted his teeth at the Hunter-turned-traitor.

"Traitor…you're gonna kill thousands of lives!" he yelled.

"It will be worth it soon." Dragoon smirked.

"Why, Dragoon?" X asked. "Why are you doing this?"

"I was promised a fight against you, X. Now here we are….a true fight to the death!"

"You went Maverick just to fight me?! That's pathetic….!"

Zero looked on with contempt. The mere fact that Dragoon betrayed his fellow hunters, turned Maverick, and was going to commit mass genocide all for the sake of fighting X sickened him to his core. Zero was ready to fight, but knew there were more pressing matters to worry about. He felt the ground shaking, as the aerial city was beginning its plummet. Zero went for the controls, but found them busted and the screen totally broken. There was no way to stop it now and no known way of redirecting it.

"Iris, the controls are busted!" he said through the comms. "How much longer do you think we got?"

" _According to these readings…"_ Iris said, inputting something on the computer. She paused when she found the answer. _"…just about 10 minutes until impact."_

Zero closed his eyes and looked down. It wasn't enough time to evacuate everyone. This was a difficult thing he had never done. His responses were many, but he couldn't find a clear one.

"X, we need to start getting people out!" said Zero.

X didn't respond. He looked at Dragoon with a grim look. He was deadset on the treasonous Reploid, and fuming over his betrayal. There was no way X was going to let Dragoon get away with this.

"X, come on! Let's go!" Zero shouted.

"You go ahead." X said. "I'll take him down…"

"Forget Dragoon, and let's move! We have to help evacuate everyone!"

"I can't. I can never forget what he's done. We called him our comrade and he turned on us! He has to pay, and if this place goes down, he's going with it! I am not allowing anyone to die because of him or me!"

"X, we don't have time for this!"

"Just go, Zero! My mind's made up and you can't change it!"

Zero wanted to argue again, but saw it was no use. He could see X had his own goal set and it was to take down Dragoon. Nothing he could say would deter X from his motive. Sighing, he patted X on the shoulder and dashed off, hoping to help Repliforce get as many people out as possible.

X stared down Dragoon angrily, ready to strike. Before he was realizing it, his optical sensors glowed a bit, beginning to analyze his opponent from top to bottom. X payed no mind and charged at Dragoon. The Maverick blocked with his fists and kicked X away across the room. X stumbled, but got right back up and shot pallets of energy at him. Dragoon stood his ground, blocking and taking the shots, before sending a fire wave at the Hunter.

X jumped right over it, but was uppercut for his troubles by Dragoon. It was not even a normal one—he used fire energy in it, making X fly through the ceiling. The Blue Bomber charged his buster for a semi-charged shot, but the traitor sidestepped and flew up to meet X. X decided to play his own game and threw some punches and kicks his way. Dragoon blocked or countered all of them, but X had some improvised counters of his own. He was analyzing Dragoon's style and adapting neatly to it.

When Dragoon threw a hard fire punch, X caught it with both hands and threw him up and used some buster shots, which got Dragoon good. The former Hunter was surprised at how quick X was learning. He was adapting and learning the more they fought. X smirked, feeling confident in a sense. He was _almost_ starting to like fighting. Almost.

"I don't want to fight, Dragoon. I dislike it." Said X. "But I know I have to. Like I said, I won't let anyone—neither in this city nor anywhere in the world—to be hurt or killed! I will defeat any Mavericks that dares to cause the Earth harm!"

"X…" Nana whispered. She was extremely touched…and then had an idea.

She began typing on her control panel rapidly, as if hacking into systems at a mad rate. And that's exactly what she was doing. She was hacking into the Sky Lagoon's engine and navigational systems, or what was left of them.

"X, Zero, everyone! Hold on tight!" she screamed.

" _Nana, what are you going to do?"_ asked Nellia.

"I'm hacking into the city's engine systems. We can't stop it from crashing, nor can we stop all the casualties. But if I position this right and time it perfectly, then the city will crash just a bit outside the city of Sunderland."

"Does that even work in our science?" asked Iris.

"We're about to find out!" Nana said, determined.

X heard her through his comms and was impressed by her quick thinking and tenacity. But most of all her selflessness. X was slowly becoming a bit more attracted to her from this, but he put those feelings aside for now. He braced for impact as he fought Dragoon, now more ready than ever.

Four minutes remained. Repliforce was doing all they could to get the civilians out, but they had so much room to cover and so little resources to get the entire populous out. The biggest obstacle in their way was the Eregion mechaniloid, which was making evacuation very tough. The beast was blasting and clawing at any evac vehicles it could, downing or destroying many of them. It thus fell in Skiver, Storm Eagle, and Zero's hands to deal with the monster.

The Eregion launched lasers out its mouth at the group, but Zero spinjumped out of the way and slashed at its head, dealing a fair bit of damage. Skiver launched some twister attackers from a fist thrust which dealt more damage, as did Eagle's signature Tornado attack; Storm Tornado destroyed a great chunk of the armor, allowing for Skiver to use his energy blade to dice it down for good. The monster had been dealt with, but only with three and a half minutes left. The ground began shaking eastward, away from the city below. Nana's plan was working.

X smiled at her handiwork, but moreso at how he was driving down Dragoon. The Hunter turned Maverick was on the ropes but not backing out. Dragoon flew up and put his palms together. Similar to Nellia's own attack, a fireball formed, from which he released to attack.

"HADOUKEN!"

Within X's optics, scanning reticles appeared and focused on the attack and its power. From this, his systems began to download analyze the attack. X was noticing this, but had little time to question it. He jumped out of the way of the Hadouken and countered with several charged shots. Dragoon was hit mightily with them, and seemed finished. X stood over hi, looking at the fallen Maverick Hunter…. only to be punched in the gut and double kicked into the air.

Dragoon was merely feinting his defeat to lure in X. Before the Blue Bomber could recuperate, Dragoon flew up and hit X with several strikes and kicks, the last one being a fiery Blaze Kick from a foot away. Dragoon's foot kept onto X's chest as he kept it on, onto the rural parts of Sunderland below. X sustained heavy damage from the attack and was on his side. He hadn't realized, however, that X's systems were downloading the move, even during collision.

Dragoon laughed triumphantly. "X, X, X… You're so goddamn soft. I don't get what Sigma sees in you. He keeps prattling on about your 'potential', how you can be the strongest of us all. Pff! What a joke!"

X grunted, trying to get his bearings. He looked up at Dragoon with fierce determination. "I don't care…. What Commander Sigma… says about me. You, Dragoon…you are a Maverick. You hurt this planet…its people… and I won't let you….. get away with this!"

Dragoon rolled his eyes and stomped on his chest further, causing some immense groans from X in pain. The Maverick was clearly enjoying this. "I was promised an unbelievable power, and a worthy adversary. So I destroyed Sky Lagoon! I killed those people to be the greatest Reploid in existence! Everyone else is just pawns and bastards, and I'll kill them all…!"

"You sold out your friends….and innocents for power?" X asked. "That's the real joke, Dragoon. You Mavericks… care about nothing…but power."

"But I'll be the one large and in charge, not even Sigma or Repliforce will be able to resist! So…any last words, X?"

"Yeah, actually…." X said before he unexpectedly drew his buster to Dragoon's face and prepared a charged shot. "GO ROT IN A SLAG HEAP!"

Dragoon gave a scared and surprised look. Before he could even scream in protest, X fired off a charged shot so intense that his entire top half was blasted clean off, with no signs of remains. All that seemed to remain was his legs, unattached to anything. As X got to his feet, he heard a female voice from his systems.

" _ **DOWNLOAD COMPLETE. FIRE FORM UNLOCKED. HADOUKEN AND BLAZE KICK OBTAINED."**_

X looked confused and opened some sort of holographic menu from his X-Buster. From there he could see several listings of "forms" and abilities. One was labelled "Normal" and highlighted, another was labelled "Fire", while many others had question marks under them. This was his reaction. He would definitely need to see Nana and the others about all this.

Speaking of whom, he received a call from his favorite navigator. _"Nana to X! Are you okay?"_

"Affirmative, Nana!" he responded. "Just grazed is all, I think. How's it going up there?"

" _Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I was able to find the perfect landing spot for the soon-to-be destroyed city. It will collide in just under 30 seconds."_

"That's at least fine. And the bad news…?"

" _The crash site is right on top of you."_

"…What?"

As X looked up, he could see the Sky Lagoon's remains falling down closer and closer to him. Nana clearly didn't anticipate Dragoon taking his battle with X outside to the rurals, nor did she think X would be caught in the crossfire. Panicking, X hurridly dashed as fast as possible away from the debris' shadow. He did not want to get crushed, not after what he went through. X barely was able to dash out, but was blown back by the explosions and colliding debris.

X stood up after about a minute out cold. He witnessed the wreckage scattered throughout and many first-responders around the scene, and many others trying to clear the mess and find the bodies of those lost. X just looked about in sorrow; none of this should have happened. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, are dead and dozens more are without homes and loved ones. All he felt was guilt and sadness.

"X!" called out Zero. X looked over as Zero and Nellia rushed over to him. "Glad to see ya made it."

"If only everyone else could…" X said solemnly. "How many…?"

"12,689. That's how many are dead." Said Nellia. "But about 5000 were evacuated… but….."

X, Zero, and the other hunters looked down in mourning. Many people lived in Sky Lagoon and many were lost. For many, they were ordinary people, no one of note. But to some like Nellia, they were the whole world to them. The ones lost were friends, family, lovers… and they would never be seen again. It hurts badly to hear people killed, but the hurt is far worse when it's someone you loved.

Sigma and Elpizo arrived and looked over the damage. Sigma directed traffic in clearing out the debris, helping out all the injured, and attending to others. As Elpizo approached the scene and scanned through, Nellia just gave him a deep, dirty look. She didn't see anything of value or sympathy towards the lieutenant, she saw someone that indirectly caused her girlfriend's demise, and the deaths of thousands more.

Elpizo looked at the hunters and bowed. "Forgive me, Maverick Hunters. This disaster should not have happened. Had I known the severity of the matter, I would have given clearance far sooner."

"Like hell we would!" shouted Nellia. "Storm Eagle was calling you and Owl for big help, and you take your sweet-ass time?! We didn't have enough help as is, you should've moved your ass sooner!"

"You must understand, Nellia, these kinds of actions take time to prepare and execute. In a military operation, standard procedure is paramount. Violating that would only cause panic and disorder, and we cannot chance it."

"Not even on innocent lives? Even people in need?! Is it really so disorderly to actually get off your lazy asses and save lives for once?!"

"Nellia, stand down!" shouted Sigma. "Repliforce did all we could. Perhaps if you did a more adequate job of rescuing the civilians, the casualties would have been lessened."

"Oh now this is _my_ fault, sir?!" said Nellia, incredulously.

"Not entirely, but you are acting out of turn. You need some time to cool off. Return to base, you're being confined to quarters until further notice. Is that clear…?"

Nellia gritted her teeth, but relented after a minute. There was nothing more she could do or say otherwise at this point. She was basically lashing out in pure grief at everyone she saw, indiscriminately. Nellia realized Sigma wasn't going to change his mind and confining her was the best option right now.

Nellia sighed in irritation and left, glaring in contempt at every Repliforce soldier she passed. She gave one last deadly glance at Skiver, who just looked away in shame, before teleporting off. Sigma then turned to X and Zero.

"To be truthful, I should be the one apologizing." He said. "You see, I was watching everything unfold and could have acted far sooner. But I saw you two in this and stood down. I wanted to see how you would handle this, especially you X. Now I see I was wrong to do such..."

X said nothing, looking down at the ground. He still had trouble processing Dragoon's betrayal. He looked up to his commander and stood straight. "I did what had to be done. It's just a shame not everyone could be saved tonight…."

"You cannot save everyone, X. Neither can Zero nor I. What can be done is to nullify the amount of casualties, so that the losses are not significant. You and Zero did a commendable job at that."

"Thank you, sir." Zero said.

"But we couldn't have done it ourselves." X added. "If not for Nana's quick thinking, the casualties would have been worse. She deserves full props for this mission."

Nana felt her heart skip several beats and her face turn red. Hearing X commend her to such a degree was both satisfying and heartwarming. All she wanted to do was squeal with absolute joy and lose all her composure, but that wouldn't feel beneficial.

Sigma nodded. "You two had a long night. Return to base and get some rest. Something tells me this may only be the beginning…."

X and Zero nodded and walked off. Sigma grinned as he and Elpizo remained the only two left at the scene. The first phase was complete.

"That turned out better than I anticipated, my lord…" said Elpizo.

"Your acting abilities are superb, Elpizo." Said Sigma. "You should join Hollywood."

"You humble me, sir. Our plan to destroy Sky Lagoon worked to near perfection, the thousands dead and no one alive knows the truth. But why involve X in all of this?"

"This is going to be a test… a test to push X past his limits, to make him the strongest Reploid. Then once the dust settles, he will be at his full potential and at our side to deliver righteous judgment."

Elpizo raised an eyebrow. He still didn't fully comprehend what Sigma was saying. A mere one Maverick Hunter couldn't possibly be the key to unlock the full potential of Reploids or their goals, especially one that could learn their agendas.

"You plan to turn him against humanity?" asked Elpizo. "I don't understand, my lord. He's just a simple Maverick Hunter, and a B-Class at that."

"Elpizo, were you not paying attention?" said Sigma, condescendingly. "X's abilities to learn and adapt as he fights were shown here, and destroying Dragoon did more than just add to his resume… it added to his arsenal. He now possesses Magma Dragoon's powers, they are his to command. But furthermore, he has a true purpose to fight. Now say that purpose were to be twisted…"

Elpizo's eyes lit up. He could see what Sigma was talking about, and where he was going with this. Perhaps X was more than meets the eye. "I see. But I doubt X will willingly join Mavericks like us."

"Don't worry. By the time we're done, he won't know the difference between Maverick and Reploid. But enough of that. It's time we prepare the next phase of our plan. Recruiting Reploids to our cause…namely my own. Find as many of your men and prisoners as you can. We will need everyone."

"As you wish, Lord Sigma…" Elpizo bowed and left. He gave one last smirk. His own agendas were moving fast, and the next steps were in their foundations…

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

 **(a/n: I can't believe this took a month to finish, but here we are. Chapter 4 is where Sigma drops the proverbial bomb onto everyone and the events of MMX begin proper. However, I won't write it right away. i recently got Kingdom Hearts III, so I may waste my time there in between or before writing. Meaning it might take another month to get that done. But I hope you liked this one, enjoy and see ya next time!)**


	4. Chapter 4: The Day of Sigma

**Maverick Hunter X – Next-Level Insurrection**

 **Chapter 4: The Day of Sigma**

 **(AN: Hey everyone! I am so sorry this took so long to get some. I was distracted from Kingdom Hearts III, amongst other things like real life, video games, and rather...lewd things. This took me a month and nine days to get done, so here we go!)**

 **DISCLAIMER: It is heavily advised that this story be read with awesome Mega Man music playing in the background. I do not own any** _ **Mega Man X**_ **related characters or themes. All characters from** _ **Mega Man**_ **,** _ **Mega Man X**_ **,** _ **Mega Man Zero**_ **,** _ **Mega Man ZX**_ **, and** _ **Mega Man Legends**_ **are all owned by Capcom. Please support the official release!**

* * *

Some days have passed.

It has been at least three days since the tragedy of the Sky Lagoon. The nation and the world were in mourning of all those lost in the incident. Over 12 thousand lives were taken, and the Maverick Hunters were in disarray. This did more than shake the feelings of the Hunters.

Human society was starting to doubt the dependability of the Hunters and Repliforce as well. From their standpoint, the amount of casualties should not have been so large. This should have been prevented for them, and yet a dozen thousand lives lost in the chaos. The British provisional government itself was in major discussions on how useful the Hunters and Repliforce truly were, allowing this to occur…

The morale in the Hunters was also dropping after the disaster. Magma Dragoon, one of their finest members, had betrayed them and caused Sky Lagoon to fall. And for what? A shot at fighting X and be the world's strongest. It was downright depressing and deplorable. Nellia was confined to her room for insubordination, as well. To summarize, the Maverick Hunters felt like they were becoming Mavericks… incompetent Mavericks, mind you, but nonetheless.

Things were about to get worse. Calls were coming in across Britain that mechaniloids were going Maverick at an alarm pace. Many Hunter squads were dispatched throughout the nations to contain the damages. Navigators ended up working overtime, and there were some losses in lives and money. It was only the beginning….

* * *

 **14:15 – HM PRISON MANCHESTER**

Sigma had scattered his forces to deal with the Maverick threats that were popping up. After his staged accident at the Sky Lagoon, morale was lower than ever; everything was falling into place for him. But there was one major player that he needed more than anyone, besides X…

Vile.

While X's potential is limitless, it's Vile's killer instinct that is another big component to his visions. The disgraced Hunter would revel in any kind of excuse to insatiate his bloodlust and continue killing and destroying anyone in his way. But it wouldn't be easy. For despite knowing Vile's lust for death, he also knows Vile does not like working with others. He won't be so easily swayed, which is why Sigma had a plan.

Sigma was escorted by a few Reploid and human guards to Vile's cell. It was located in the lower basements of the facility. The wardens knew just how dangerous Vile was, even unarmed, and created a special transparent cylinder prison to keep him in. Sigma approached the cell and turned to the guards.

"Thank you all." He said. "But if it's satisfactory for you, I would ask you leave us for a moment. I would like to speak with Vile in private."

"As you wish, Commander." The guards bowed and left Sigma with Vile.

Vile scoffed as his former commander turned to him. "Stupid Mancs. They buy anything you say, and they're as cheap as their soccer."

"It's called football, Vile." Sigma said.

"Whatever. Just cut the high and mighty attitude, Sigma. I know why you're here, so cut the scrap and end me already. If you can."

Sigma looked at Vile, almost emotionless. Vile was always reported to secretly hate his existence and want to put a gun in his head. He found no proof of this, though, and so brushed them off. They seem to ring true now, however, but he needed Vile alive and well.

"You're sorely mistaken, Vile." Said Sigma. "I have no intent to kill you. I came here to ask for your help."

Vile just cackled madly. This was just amusing to him. "You? Want my help?! Hahahaha! I gotta admit, Sigma, I never took you for a comedian. Just what makes you think I'll do anything you say again?"

"Because I have bore witness to the dark truth of this world. The Mavericks are not our enemies. It's the humans. They use us for their own selfish uses and take no responsibility for their actions. There's been abuse towards us for a while, but I will not stand for it. That's why I'm gathering the best Reploids I know… to declare a human purge."

"Hmph. Didn't think you had the spine to betray our makers. So you want me to join you, as a Maverick, and kill every single human possible?"

"That's why I'm here. And once X and others join, this world will be rid of them and our revolution will give way to evolution."

Vile laughed harder than before. "X?! Have your processors melted underneath that chrome head of yours?! He's a wimpy B-Class Hunter that can't even make a good shot without shaking! What kind of good could he do?"

Vile turned his back to Sigma before his former commander could even answer. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. I'm not interested in your 'revolution' anyway, so get lost! Better off to let me rust here anyway."

Sigma was not deterred. He knew he wouldn't come quietly, as usual. So he needed to up the ante. "I understand you were created by American scientist, Dr. Nathan Doppler. That you have been looking for him."

"What about it?" Vile scoffed.

"What if I told you that I know exactly where he is…?"

Vile flinched up and turned around. Sigma could see surprise on him, even if he couldn't see his face. A red light blinked on Vile's left hand visor. It seemed that the purple Maverick was now fully interested in what Sigma had to say.

"Now I have your attention…" Sigma smirked, igniting his energy blade.

* * *

 **14:30 – JUST OFF M12 – NORTHERN IRELAND**

X and Zero were driving on the motorways after their fifth Maverick call of the day. The attacks were becoming more frequent on this specific day, and worse yet, they were spreading. Not just throughout the United Kingdom or Europe, but throughout the entire world. Needless to say, the Maverick Hunters have been busy.

Every navigator had to be on alert and standing by. Nana was hoping to do some analysis on X's newly-discovered powers, but the multiple crises have put that on the table. She has brought it over to Alia for her to figure out. All her focus was solely on the Maverick attacks. She needed to be X and Zero's navigator to help them through this.

X and Zero drove down the motorway, hoping to get to their next destination soon. But the frequency of these Maverick incidents was extremely concerning, even to them. Something didn't feel quite right.

"These Maverick sightings are too frequent, too consistent." X thought aloud. "It's been one after another and almost simultaneous."

"Agreed. It's too much in one day." Said Zero. "Maverick criminals, berserk Mechaniloids, strange incidents. There's no way this is pure coincidence."

"There has to be someone high up that's pulling the strings. Someone with enough power and influence that they could cause a worldwide Maverick revolt. Question is…. who?"

The two Hunters were absolutely stumped. There weren't that many Reploids they knew that had this kind of sway to cause an outbreak of such magnitude. Zero considered someone in Repliforce, but he thought that may upset Iris, so he kept it to himself. X thought perhaps a US politician. After WW3, America had become a large part of a massive superstate named Oceania, with the United States as firm controllers of the nation, with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and any overseas parts of the US and former parts of the United Kingdom as the foundation. X thought that it could not possibly be one of their leaders, though, as even Oceania's reach would not be able to cover the continuous Reploid revolts.

Their thoughts were interrupted by a call from Nana. _"X, Zero! We've got bad news! The recently discharged Hunter, Vile, has escaped from Strangeways, and his breakout has sparked a second riot!"_

"What?!" said X. "That's impossible, Vile's cell is supposed to be top-notch secure!"

"Some idiot must've busted him out, and I doubt Vile's kind enough to spare the poor bastard." Said Zero.

" _Repliforce squads have arrived to detain the chaos, but they may need backup."_ Said Iris. _"X, Zero, you must help them!"_

"Roger that!" they both said, and sped down the road, using a hyperdrive teleportation sequence to leap over to Manchester.

Arriving from the teleportation towards the prison, they found the facility's exterior in a fairly beat up stance. Some bits of the architecture were crumbled, especially in the entrance and roof; local officers were trying to play damage control outside. X and Zero rushed inside and surveyed inside. It was way worse.

Many soldiers and guards were dead and damage inside was extreme. There were small fires, pools of blood, broken bars and cells, tables shattered, and even some rooms and halls were in tatters. What's worse is that it wasn't just the guards and Repliforce being killed; the inmates were also fighting amongst each other. X could catch a glimpse of a Maverick inmate trying to choke a human out. He wasted no time in shooting the Maverick with his X-Buster and kicking them into a wall.

X quickly pulled the prisoner up to his feet to check on him. The prisoner sustained minor injuries, so he was glad to know he would pull through. "What happened here?" asked X.

"Bastards…." The prisoner gasped. "Some bastards let Vie out… then they, let everyone out…. And some Hunters wanka'… he told the Mavs… to stand up for themselves. Those fuckers…. They're killing everyone!"

X's eyes widened in surprise. He thought that Dragoon was the only traitor in the Hunters, but now there was another? Or maybe there was more? What if some people he worked with and trusted were Mavericks now, or were for some time? X couldn't let that get to him, though, as Zero stepped forward.

"We'll stop the rioters, but this place isn't safe right now." He said. "Iris, can you send a message to Colonel Patton? Tell him and whatever Repliforce trooper is here to evacuate any human inmate, and take them to the nearest asylum that is safe."

" _Wait. You want me to ask my brother to let convicted criminals out of their prison?"_ she asked.

"If we keep 'em here, there'll just be more casualties." X argued. "Besides, the prison chapel isn't too safe either. We need to get everyone out before they get hurt!"

Zero smiled at his friend. He knew he would understand. Without waiting for a reply from his navigator, Zero dashed forward to calm the situation. X helped the inmate outside and brought him aboard his Ride Chaser. Nana informed the Cheadle Royal Hospital nearby that prisoners would need shelter from the riots. The higher ups were reluctant to comply, but realized the severity of the situation and allowed it.

X dropped the prisoner off and helped him to his shelter. Both the prisoner and the hospital were very grateful. They offered the Blue Bomber tips, but X refused. He couldn't accept money for this. He just walked out of the infirmary when he received a call from Nana.

" _X, come in!"_ she shouted. _"Please come in, it's urgent!"_

"Nana, calm down! I'm here!" X answered. "What's wrong?"

" _I've lost Commander Sigma's mark! I can't raise or locate him!"_

"What?! His signal stopped?"

" _I'm worried he may be in trouble. You've got to locate him!"_

"I'm on it!"

X didn't even hesitate to get on his Ride Chaser and zoom off into the streets. He had little clue where to look and would be perfect prey for a Maverick ambush, but it didn't matter. If his commander was in danger, he needed to act, and fast!

"Nana, what was Commander Sigma's last recorded position?" asked X.

" _Point CPM-0382. Just outside the Missile Base in France_." She said.

"Alright. I'm on my way now! I just hope I'm in time…"

" _Be careful, X. We haven't heard from any Repliforce or base personnel in hours, so stay alert."_

"Roger that."

X then put his Ride Chaser into hyperdrive, teleporting all the way into the once beautiful country of romance and beauty.

* * *

 **17:00 – REPLOID MISSILE BASE – FRANCE**

X arrived on the roads of Paris, France… or what was left of them. Most of Europe was like this, nothing but a desolate wasteland. World War 3 took a massive tole on the Earth. While the Americas and Australia—now a massive supernation known as Oceania—as well as most of Asia were able to recover, Europe and Africa were not so fortunate. The Reploids were made and colonized in the UK to begin revitalizing the continent, with the British Isles as the first step.

Some of Europe was in the early stages of being revitalized, but it would take about five years for the continent to be hospitable to humans, and even then, many doubted it would be able to return to its former glory and beauty. Reploids were still hard at work rebuilding, especially the notable landmarks that were lost in the wars.

X had driven all the way to the remains of Marseille. Reconstruction had yet to begin there, but there was a missile base just around where the port town once stood. The place was stylish in exterior, but had modern amenities in the interior, with little stone to be found. X quickly got off his chaser and ran inside. The place wasn't too complex to navigate, but something felt wrong. It was empty. There was no one here. This wasn't a good sign.

X rushed quickly but carefully through the facility, until he saw a trail of dead Reploids. They were completely dissected. He thought that Vile was on another kill spree, but he looked at the wounds. They were all directed at precise weak points and vital limbs. He never thought Vile to be a meticulous fighter, nor have any idea where to shoot at. Meaning someone else was also here, and Sigma could be in trouble.

He was proven right after hearing a scream from down the east hallway. It sounded like the commander. Without hesitation, X rushed down the hall, following a trail of bodies down several corridors until he reached the main control room. As he ran in, he saw Sigma down on the ground, seeming to be in heavy damage. He was picked up by one hand by none other than Vile.

Vile cackled as his fingers scraped at Sigma's cranium, leaving massive marks above and below his eyes. "How does it feel, _commander_? To be on your knees looking like shit! It's how I been feeling for so long…. Getting chained up by you punkasses. But no more. I'm my own bot, and I plan to nuke this world to shit!"

"NO WAY!" X shouted, firing a half-charged shot at Vile, which blew him back a foot or two.

"Commander, are you alright?" X asked, running to Sigma's side.

"I…I'm fine, X." Sigma said. "Vile just… he's crazier than I thought…."

"He won't get away with this…" X looked to Vile, who didn't even seem fazed by his last second rescue. In fact, he was just walking it off.

"Ha ha ha ha! That actually tickled a little bit, X." Vile laughed. "Still, I can't say I'm shocked that you're licking these humans' feet."

"You're a disgusting Maverick, Vile! Totally disgusting!" X yelled.

" _I'm_ disgusting?! I'M the disgusting one?! Oh X, you are too freaking much! The only ones worth vomiting over is these humans! I mean, look at them! They go around, strutting around and drag us around by a leash, so we can clean up all their messes! And what do we get? _Nothing!_ A fat zip!"

"So you'll kill innocent people just to make a point of what you think of humans? That's pathetic, totally like you!"

"These humans are squishy and soft. Just like you are, X! I don't even know why Sigma thinks so highly of you, and honestly, I don't care! As a matter of fact, I'm just gonna nuke every major city in the world just for kicks! I can't wait to see the look on your stupid face!"

"I won't let you do that! You're heading back to jail, Vile, and I'll make sure the accommodations are less than optimal!"

Vile laughed again. He didn't actually think X was actually threatening enough to take him down. X was just class-B trash and a softy. What would he have to fear from anything X could pose, when he doesn't have the gut to actually kill? Besides, he had already taken the bait.

"Go ahead and try, X!" Vile smugly said, his eye lighting up. "But you won't stop _us_ …"

Before X could even ask what he meant by 'us', he found himself stabbed through the chest in the back by an energy blade. He looked down and saw a familiar blade cave into X's chassis. It was Sigma's. His own commander had betrayed him!

"Commander…. Sigma…?" X said, falling to one knee.

Sigma walked past him and stood next to Vile, smirking. "Well done, Vile. Your acting was superb… though I would appreciate you _not_ scarring my visage."

"Hah! Guess I 'accidentally' forgot that part." Vile scoffed. "Whatever, it suits you better anyway."

Sigma let it slide. Him getting eye scars was not part of his grand plan, but he needed Vile for right now, and it was a very convincing job. He turned his attention to X, still on one knee and confused.

"Commander… why?" X asked.

"Because these humans don't deserve us." Sigma said. "Ever since our creation, our creators have done nothing more than use and abuse us to their will, forcing us to fight their battles, and pick up from the toxic mess they themselves are responsible for! I was blind to this abuse and corruption… until now."

"Th… that's crazy! You can't really believe that!"

"I do. I have seen it. You would be a fool to think otherwise. The humans may seem grateful, but at some point, they will deem us useless. They will assuredly snuff us out when our expiration date arrives, or when we find out far too much. So I have chosen to snuff them out before they can destroy us. We are more than mindless slaves."

"You're going to kill millions of innocent lives?! Declare war on the humans? But that's… that's-!"

"Maverick?" said Vile. "For calling these meatbags out? Well I'll gladly accept that label as I watch this world burn around me!"

Vile cackled once again, but X had enough. Damaged still, he rose to both legs and threw a massive punch to Vile's helmet, barely knocking his head aside. The Boba Fett knockoff Maverick readied his cannon to shoot point blank, but stopped when he looked over X's shoulder. The Blue Bomber charged at Vile, but stopped short when he felt an electrical pain run through his body.

The cause of it was a large brown mandrill-based Reploid with what seemed to be lots of Christmas lights on his body and electric wires on his back. It was Spark Mandrill, another Hunter who has gone Maverick. Vile wasted no time in punting X's head while he was down, then stomping him like a dog. X got up eventually, but was thrown back down from attacks by some kind of red and yellow blur.

X got up and saw the attacker was another traitor. This was a stag beetle based red Maverick with blue shoulder plates by the name of Boomer Kuwanger. X rose back and looked at Sigma approaching the console that controlled all the missiles. X quickly fired off a half-charged shot at Sigma. The next thing he saw was a big boom. However, the shot never hit him.

Armored Armadillo had shielded Sigma from the blast and was taking defensive positions. X knew it wouldn't be easy to get past Armadillo, but he was attacked by an unknown force, getting slapped and thrown about. He knew already who was attacking him before they revealed themselves: Sting Chameleon! Chameleon appeared from the wall and threw X to the ground.

X tried to get up, but found a massive weight on his back preventing him, as well as an extremely goofy laughter. "Nuh-uh-uh! You ain't goin' nowhere, X!"

X knew that voice too well as the fat, rude, and obnoxious Maverick Hunter, Flame Mammoth. Despite his name, though, he was more akin to a grey and red Naumann's elephant, Mammoth crushed X harder under his foot until Vile chucked a grenade at Mammoth to get him off. He wanted X all to himself.

"Don't hog all the fun, Flame Mammoth!" Vile said. "Besides, I want my crack at breaking him in."

"What predictable brutes. No class or pizzaz in your fight style." Said a red octopus-looking Maverick. The Reploid had six tentacles for arms like an actual octopus, but two normal legs like any other Reploid.

"Like I give a crap, Launch Octopus! I just wanna see what makes X tick!"

Vile grabbed X by the ankle and smashed him into the ground repeatedly, like he was some sort of whip. He then facepalmed X and smashed him into the nearby wall, while Launch Octopus released a couple of missiles to deal even more damage to the lone Hunter in the room.

X was pinned to the wall soon after when ice shots froze him tight. The only thing he could move was his head, where he could see a dark blue penguin Reploid with twin gas tanks on his back. It was another traitor by the name of Chill Penguin. He was accompanied by an eighth and final turncoat, and X's jaw dropped when he saw it. He couldn't believe it; he expected this Reploid to be the last Hunter to turn Maverick. Yet here he was, with Sigma, Vile, and the others….

"Storm Eagle. Not you too…"

Storm Eagle looked down sadly, and raised his cannon against X, but looked away. He was clearly regretful and unhappy about doing this. "I'm sorry, X…"

Eagle shot a horizontal tornado right at X. While it easily destroyed the ice, it also caused quadruple damage to the Blue Bomber. X was then left in a rut. His armor was cracked and shattered in numerous paces, blood was leaking out, and his knees were barely functioning. X was helpless, defenseless, and unable to do anything.

Sigma approached the nine Maverick turncoats, beaming with joy. "You all made the right choice. I'm happy you were all able to see the truth and could light the way to a better future. A peaceful time will come. But first, it's time to begin our rebellion, and rid the Earth of her cancer once and for all!"

Sigma and his men approached the console, X too weak to stop them. The former commander inputted the last few commands, and every missile stored within the base rose up and was ready for launch. Sigma smirked as he pressed the final big red button, launching every missile they had. They were all aimed at multiple locations, but they were all major cities. Boston. Rio. New York. Beijing. London. Sydney. Vancouver. Auckland. Glascow. Los Angeles. Tokyo. They were to be cracked down very soon.

"You know, it is kind of unfair to not give these monsters a warning." Mused Sigma. "What say we…reintroduce ourselves?"

* * *

 _At exactly 12:38 PM EST, the entire world received a simulcasted message on their screens. Sigma appeared on the screen and began to speak to the planet._

' _People of this planet. Lend me your eyes and heed my words. My name is Sigma, and for over four years, me and my Maverick Hunters have safeguarded you and the Earth from monsters known as Mavericks. However, I have learned of a greater monstrosity: humanity itself. The humans that created us, the humans that govern and populate this world, are nothing but abusive puppeteers and slave traffikers. They would use us for however they saw fit, would abuse and destroy us for stepping out of line, would make us feel inferior. Well no more. As of this moment, the Maverick Hunters are rendered null and void. In its place, I give you my Revolution. Starting today, the human race begins its borrowed time, and a new world for free Reploids can flourish!"_

 _Sigma laughed like a maniac. But as the message ended, many missiles landed in multiple major cities. Millions of lost lives and trillions of money. A purge had begun…_

* * *

As X came to, he looked in shock and regret. Sigma and the others had betrayed him. They've nuked most of the world and declared war. He felt so ashamed, so betrayed… so angry. Anger at being used and not being able to save anyone. This couldn't stand. No… it wouldn't stand!

X rose to his feet, ignoring all the pain he was feeling, and stared down the Maverickn traitors. He walked up to them, his buster drawn and charging. Vile caught him in the corner of his eye and scoffed. Without looking, he fired at X with his machine-gun hand. X wasn't fazed and hardly affected. Vile was surprised at this. The other Hunters attacked him, but X fought back.

Octopus fired off a bunch of torpedoes, which X nocked off and threw into Penguin, Mandrill, and Kuwanger. He then threw punches and shots at Octopus with great power before Armadillo intervened. Running on adrenaline and emotion, X just fired buster shot after buster shot at Armadillo, who blocked it all with his armoring and shields. But X's tenacity was showing, and Armadillo's legs began to slip. When they did and X found an opening, he kicked the purple Maverick really damn hard.

Storm Eagle raised his buster to X, but stopped. He didn't want to hurt him, regardless of his allegiance. Under normal circumstances, neither would X. But he was being fueled by raw emotion now, and he threw punches and knees to Storm Eagle, who barely dodged any of them. Most he took because he deserved it. X's momentum was soon cut short by Vile shooting him in the back. He was surrounded yet again.

"Yes, I see it." Said Sigma. "So this is what the professor meant. The potential you possess! The infinite power you have is incredible! Just think of what we could accomplish!"

"SHUT UP, SIGMA!" yelled X. "This isn't the end! You won't get away with this. The Hunters aren't done, and neither am I! _**I WILL MAKE SURE YOU ARE DESTROYED FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!**_ "

Sigma laughed, as his appearance was slightly changing. Spikes were now on his armlets and anklets and he now posed a large red cape with black shoulderpads. "Then come and get me! Let us battle for the true fate of this world!"

X charged up his buster, not realizing or caring that it overheated, and fired at his opposition. The battle had begun….

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

 **(AN: ANd that's the end of our 4-chapter prologue. Apologies again for taking so damn long. I will _try_ to avoid long waits like this again in the future, but I can't make any promises. We explored a bit of the lore here as well, but from here on out, we'll be adapting the MMX events proper...but with a twist! Stay tuned, and see ya next time! Lemme know what you thought!)**


	5. Chapter 5: Highway to Oblivion

**Maverick Hunter X – Next-Level Insurrection**

 **Chapter 5: Highway to Oblivion**

 **(A/N: Hey folks! Here's the next chapter of Next-Level Insurrection, where we begin things proper with Central Highway. This whole chapter took about three weeks to do, and I hope you enjoy this. I'm not one to brag or beg people to read and/or review, but it would be really appreciated if people gave me their feedback or spread the word. I do want more people to know and like this story, see how I do. Anyway, enjoy!)**

 **DISCLAIMER: It is heavily advised that this story be read with awesome Mega Man music playing in the background. I do not own any** ** _Mega Man X_** **related characters or themes. All characters from** ** _Mega Man_** **,** ** _Mega Man X_** **,** ** _Mega Man Zero_** **,** ** _Mega Man ZX_** **, and** ** _Mega Man Legends_** **are all owned by Capcom. Please support the official release!**

* * *

The world around X seemed to be black. He couldn't see anything since he began his last fight. He could barely hear any sounds. It sounded like murmurs and vague gossip, but he couldn't make it out. Then a light emerged, and before long, his eyes began to slowly open, his visuals rebooting.

"…X…king up…"

The voices he heard were getting more clear. He recognized it as Cinnamon, and thought he heard Alia as well.

"Nana, Zero! He's waking up!" he heard Alia say. Eventually, his vision was completely returned, as he had awoken.

X sat up and surveyed his surroundings. He was no longer on the missile base. He was back at Maverick Hunter HQ, stunned it was still standing and that some of the Hunters were still here. He woke with a throbbing headache, as Cinnamon tried keeping him still. Of course, he was least concerned of that.

He could not forgive himself for letting this happen. Sigma had unexpectedly betrayed the Maverick Hunters, and enlisted many of their own to go Maverick and launch a terroristic attack on the entire globe. Of course, it wasn't his fault entirely, but X couldn't help but feel guilty and accountable for what happened 12 hours before in France.

"I've been out for _how long_!?" X yelled.

"Twelve hours." Alia said shrewdly. "You sustained a lot of heavy damage and overheated your systems. We weren't sure if you were to recover at all. Much less live."

"Sounds like you took a massive beating." Said Zero as he walked in the room. "I found you totally scrapped and in bad shape. Kuwanger would have minced you if I didn't step in. You're welcome."

Nana ran in as well. She was relieved her favorite Hunter was okay, but needed to refrain herself from running up and hugging him. It would have been very embarrassing for her.

"X, you scared me… well all of us, really." She said, seriously. "I would have called for help or warned you, but the radio and scanners were jammed once you hit the base."

"I'm sorry, Nana. It won't happen again. I promise…" X gritted his teeth and clenched his fists when he said that last part.

The Hunters saw Sigma's declaration, it was on every frequency. They were as shocked as the rest of the world, and suffered heavy losses. Before last night, the Maverick Hunters were counted in at least 1,500. Now only about a hundred remained. The others had either defected to Sigma's side, or were killed by his hands—whether by the missile attacks or by their own fellow Hunters.

"I don't understand." Said Cinnamon. "Commander Sigma has always been kind and caring to all of us, he was like our father. What changed?"

"I would assume closed-mindedness." Said Alia. "He seemed to think we Reploids were perfect and near faultless, but the humans that govern us were not right in any way. That kind of arrogance and mentality can bring a person to the path of evil."

"Perhaps." Said Nana. "Or maybe he saw something we didn't… Something political or deeper that no one could notice. But that's a longshot for right now…"

"It doesn't matter." X said, getting up. "He's our enemy now… we have to stop him."

X walked out of the infirmary and rushed to the control room. Nana ran after him in a worried manner.

"X, stop! You need to rest!" she shouted. But it was no good. X kept running, not stopping for anyone. When they reached the control room, X was surprised to find the place was practically empty. A place that would normally have a dozen navigators on duty now only had one: Iris.

X looked at Nana, who had a solumn look. They didn't need to speak any words. It was easy to figure out all the other navigators were either murdered or resigned. Nana and Iris were literally all that were left.

Iris was speaking with Repliforce's chief general and leader on the screen. He was mostly yellow in armor, wearing a military cap and jacket, with a chrome face and silver mustache. His name was General Churchill, and he looked calm and stern the whole conversation with Iris.

"…and that's the situation, General." She said. "Death tolls are rising and it seems Sigma's forces are scattering. However, most of them seem to be confined to the United Kingdom for now."

"And what of X?" asked the General.

"Right here." Announced X, surprising Iris. Nana immediately went to her station across from Iris and logged in.

"Good to see you alive and well, X." said Churchill.

"Thank you, sir." X saluted. "What's the situation?"

"About 30 to 45 seconds after Sigma's transmission ended," said Iris, "large scale missiles hit multiple major cities in the FAR [the Federation of Asian Republics] and the URO [the United Republics of Oceania]."

"How many casualties?"

Iris hesitated when X asked. She looked at Nana, who was checking. It wasn't good. She solemnly shook her head, Iris felt it best to dance around it.

"We don't have an exact estimate or number right now." She said. "But it isn't looking good."

X wasn't having it. "Rough estimate?"

"With all due respect, X, I'm not a mathematician. I'm only an intern."

"You _were_ an intern, Iris. Now you're a member of our team."

"X, please—" Nana pleaded, until Churchill cut her off.

"Nana, you are not going to dissuade X." he said. "You may as well give him the answer he's looking for."

Nana and Iris realized it was pointless to argue with X. Nana knew her secret crush was not going to like the answer, but he wasn't going to let them dance around it either. With a heavy sigh, she gave him the count.

"At least 800 million people worldwide are dead." She said. "About 600 million sustained major injuries. And that's only from the missile strikes."

"At this moment, Sigma and his followers are attacking cities across the map." Said Churchill. "My men are doing all they can to stop them before they can exceed the chaos. X, I want you to rest. Leave this crisis to Repliforce."

"Sir, with all due respect, I've rested enough." Said X. "This uprising is my responsibility, I have to help."

"I understand, X, but the losses suffered to the Hunters are too deep. You and the other Maverick Hunters are ill-prepared to face Sigma's army of Mavericks. Forgive us, but we will handle this. Churchill out."

X tried to protest, but the General had cut off the feed already. The Blue Bomber was not happy with this. Repliforce was expecting him, nay, the entire Maverick Hunters to sit back as Mavericks caused wide-scale havoc. While true in that the Reploid Army only responds to major dangers to global security, the Hunters were the bulk of many Maverick arrests and deaths. For the army to take over the Hunters' jobs like this seemed blasphemous to some of them.

"I'll try getting in contact with Professor Rimmer." Said Nana. "At least make sure _she's_ still alive through all this."

"I guess there isn't much we can do for right now." Said Iris. "Just wait and hope that brother resol—"

"ENOUGH!" X suddenly shouted, surprising the two girls and loud for even the rest of the base to hear.

"I am not just gonna sit around and do nothing, while Sigma kills innocent people!" he said. "I'm going out to help! I'm going to stop Sigma's uprising!"

"X, I get where you're coming from," said Nana, "but there isn't enough of us to handle this, and there isn't much we can do about this. Repliforce will straighten this whole thing out."

"And what if they don't? What if this just escalates and Sigma makes us look worse? If I don't do something, Nana, things may get even worse!"

"You've seen Repliforce in action! You should know what they're capable of!"

"Of course I do, but their job isn't to hunt down Mavericks, it's ours!"

"So you're mad because they're taking your duties? Is my little X hurt in the feels by that?"

"That isn't funny, Nana! Besides, they're a military group. I have more experience in this and I can do it with as little damage to the surroundings as possible."

"X, we nearly lost you already! I don't wan—we, don't want to lose you for real. Please, just stay."

"I'm sorry, Nana. But I can't stay here while people are getting hurt. I'm heading out there and you can't stop me."

"Not even if I do the 'kawaii face'? You know you can't say no to that…."

"I can if I walk away and not see it." And X looked away as Nana did the cutest and most adorable face that would make anyone's heart melt. She knew X couldn't say no to her when she made that look, and X knew too. But he was not going to be swayed.

"I'm going now. See you when I get back." X said and teleported off.

Nana gave an exasperated and sorrowful sigh. She really hoped she could convince X otherwise, but she realized there was no changing his mind. From the corner of her eyes, she could see a few Hunters entering the room, mumbling about X and what he was doing. Even Nellia, who was off her confinement after Sigma's betrayal, was amazed.

Zero wasn't too surprised. He always knew of X's compassionate heart, and how much he cared. But he never knew the kind of determination he had. X was always unsure in battle, would make mistakes or hesitate when the situation called for it. But not here. This was different, there wasn't a sound of hesitation in his voice. He looked determined to defeat Sigma and his goons, or die trying.

Of course, that's what worried him. "X is gonna need some backup out there. We can't just sit here spinning our wheels."

"Not you too, Zero." Nana said, worried.

"I'll look after him. If he steps in it, I'll make sure to get him out."

Nana sighed, but relented. She could see the other Hunters talking amongst themselves. They seemed to have been wowed by X's compassion and determination as well. She noticed some of them teleport or run off. She had a good feeling what was happening.

"I'm with X!" said Nellia. "We ain't sitting around for a solution, we'll _be_ the solution!"

Nana was surprised. X had left quite the positive influence on everyone here, that no one wanted to stand by anymore. They wanted to be in action and help. It was ironic; out of all the Hunters, X hated fighting the most, yet he had just inspired his fellow hunters to fight as well. Nana needed to help too.

"Iris, can you take the call for Professor Rimmer?" she asked. "I got a Hunter to navigate!"

"Of course." Said Iris.

* * *

 **6:30 – CENTRAL HIGHWAY – SOUTHAMPTON**

X found himself running across several freeways, surveying the damage. It was worse than he thought. Buildings were catching fire and debris was everywhere. The freeway he was on was barely holding on by a thread. Suddenly, a Beecopter Mechaniloid arrived and blasted the supports keeping it up. X quickly jumped up, brandishing his Buster, just before the freeway was destroyed and laid charged shot after charged shot at the chopper until it was scrap.

X landed on the Central Highway above the city. This road was one that allowed travel to and from all the major cities in England, but wasn't officially established until well after the war. Traffic was worse than usual at this time due to the Maverick attacks, but X would have to move quickly in spite of it.

As X continued forward, he found himself facing several Maverick goons. These were uncommon in his missions, where smaller grunts would get in the way of progress, up until now. The first one he saw was a spiky tire with eyes rolling towards him. X wasn't going to waste his time with it, and just jumped right over it, until another one came in. X decided to use a few buster shots to destroy this one.

"At least it isn't a stupid Jamminger." He said. Not even five steps after he said this did a pink flying Maverick appear and smack him back a bit before laughing at him.

"I have _got_ to learn to keep quiet." X said while blasting it. He always hated those things.

" _No, I believe that would us."_ Said a voice over the comms.

"Huh? Nana?"

" _Hey X. Sorry it took a while to get in. I'm helping you just this mission."_

"Heh… I don't know why, but I had some feeling you'd pull through. I'm gonna need your help with this."

" _I'll do what I can. There's massive Reploid activity around the country, but there's Repliforce readings dead ahead. As well as big Maverick signs."_

"Roger! I'll keep an eye out!" X said as he dashed off.

X ran into a Gun Volt enemy, an armless enemy that fired electric waves on the ground. X was about to fire his buster when a lion-like Reploid appeared and slashed it to pieces, as well as the other enemies ahead. He was gold in armor and had an eyepatch on his left eye, as well as sharp claws. This was Slash Beast, one of Repliforce's commanders.

"Looks like I found Repliforce." Said X.

"Didn't the General say we had this?" asked Slash Beast.

"He did, but I'm still helping."

"Oh you punks helped alright… helped me find some prey for doing _NOTHING AT ALL!_ Now stay out of our way!"

Beast pushed X aside and ran forward, leading his battalion into battle. He noticed that Beast's forces were merciless, not stopping for any mercy and shooting and slashing anything in their way. While effective in getting rid of the Maverick hordes, X knew that it was not the safest way. Someone could get hurt.

X continued forward, blasting some enemies, when some flying enemies with spikes on the bottom appeared. He noticed they were stopping a bit short of him and some oncoming cars.

" _X, those are Crushers! The spikes on their ends are cranes, they'll destroy parts of the road!"_ warned Nana.

"Got it!" X wasted no time in using charged shots at the Mavericks. Without anyone telling, he realized the spiked cranes were the weak point and carefully hit shots at them, destroying them.

The oncoming cars barely honked at him, but X wasn't sure if it was out of genuine thanks or anger for standing in the middle of the road. X jumped over several gaps made in the motorway from damages, until he came across a giant bee-shaped helicopter. X recognized it as a Beeblader.

These were usually meant for transporting cargo and other Reploids, but it seemed these models were specifically designed for combat. The Beeblader fired off some missiles which X dodged with ease and fired off charged shot after charged shot at the machine. X thought perhaps the best shot was one right at the blades when he heard some crying nearby.

X turned and saw a family of two parents and a young boy, outside of their broken car. The young boy was crying and very afraid, having to be consoled by his two parents.

"It's going to be alright, Jeffrey." Said the father. "We'll make it out. We'll make it."

"I…I'm scared, daddy." Said Jeffrey.

"So are we, sweetie…" said the mother.

X saw the human family weren't too far away from the Beeblader. If the machine were to fall, it could cause this part f the road to collapse, and even if they weren't crushed by its remains, they may not have survived the fall. He hesitated once again. He couldn't chance that.

As he contemplated this, Slash Beast zoomed in again and threw crescent energy projectiles at the chopper's blades. X was in a pickle. He knew he couldn't stop him in time, and eh wasn't sure he could save the family. With all the speed he had, X shoved the two parents onto the next road section and grabbed the child. That was when the Beeblader crashed down, taking down the road.

Slash Beast was agile enough to leap over to the other side and not go down with the machine. X was not so fortunate. He gripped the child as they fell with the BeeBlader. Fortunately, the section and the machine got wedged inbetween the support beams.

"Jeffrey! Jeffrey, are you there?!" shouted the father from above.

"Speak to us, sweetie!" cried out the mother.

X looked down at Jeffrey. Thankfully, he was unharmed, but he was scared more than ever and crying harder. He mumbled about he was going to die and praying to himself. All X could do was pat his head and cuddle to keep him calm.

"Shhhhh, it's okay." He said. "It's okay, little guy. I got you. I'm gonna get you out."

"Who…are you?" asked the boy.

"I'm a Maverick Hunter. I'm here to help, so don't cry."

"We're going to die… I know we're going to die. I don't wanna go! I don't wanna go…!"

"Ssssh, don't worry. You're not gonna die. I promise I'll get you out of this. Just trust me."

Jeffrey sniffed and wiped his tears away. He was still scared, but he trusted the robot. X put him on his back, and the youngling wrapped his arms around the Blue Bomber tightly. X quickly but carefully wall jumped up the support beams, trying to get them out. Jeffrey was scared, but tried to brave it, holding on to X tighter.

Very soon, X jumped out and they were back on solid ground. Jeffrey was let down carefully and hugged X, smiling very happy.

"You did really good, kid." Said X.

"Jeffrey!" yelled the father, as he and his wife ran to their son.

"Mommy! Daddy!" said Jeremy as the family embraced. X couldn't help but smile. The father looked up at X.

"Thank you so much for saving our son." He said. "I don't know how to repay you."

"You don't have to." X said modestly. "Just get to safety and quick. I'll take it from here."

"Thank you again!" said Jeffrey, waving X goodbye. X smiled and rushed off.

X was calm through the whole thing, but he was internally fuming. He was enraged how little Slash Beast cared that innocent lives were in danger. He put that family at risk and didn't even give a damn. That made him absolutely livid.

" _Hey X. I did a scan of your systems while you were comatose, and something didn't—"_ began Nana, before she was cut off.

"You… did what?" X asked. Nana was blushing on the other line.

" _N-N-Not in a weird way! I was just studying you and your schematics—No, I mean your abilities, your uhh…. I'm sorry, I could've worded that all a bit better…"_

"Look, it's fine. So what were you saying?"

" _Well I was running scans along with Alia and we noticed you had extra details that weren't there before. Particularly forms and abilities, that we can only assume came from the Sky Lagoon mission."_

X didn't respond right away. He was trying to remember and think about what happened that horrible day. Or was trying not to. He didn't want to think about the events of that night, how Dragoon killed millions of people in one stroke. However, his fight with him stuck out.

"That's right. When I was fighting Dragoon, my optics flashed up at every move he did." X said. "It was like I was memorizing and scanning all of his moves."

" _In a sense, you did."_ Said Nana. _"Alia discovered that you have a Copy ability that allows you to download and utilize the powers of any Mavericks you beat, but only those you have met. And it's only special abilities that you see your opponents or allies use."_

"So that's what that was." X said as he was blasting some annoying Jammingers. "My systems were analyzing Dragoon and downloading his skillset."

" _Precisely. I think that if a major Maverick appears, your optics will begin downloading the Maverick's skillset and download anything you see while fighting him or her."_

"That's incredible…. How many abilities do I have right now?"

" _It appears only Dragoon's Hadouken and Blaze Kick. Those are in the Fire Form you unlocked."_

"Then I'll have to try that one out…"

X came across yet another Beeblader, but this one was also sending Maverick minions down to deal damage. Repliforce troops were swarming down to help, but they were easily dispatched by the Mavericks. X wasted little time. Almost by some instinct, he held his buster up and pressed its side with his fingers. A display popped up with various listings. Most of them had multiple question marks, except for two that read "X Form" with an arrow pointed at it, and "Fire Form".

X pressed the listing for Fire to see what happened, and a female voice was heard: _'FIRE FORM'_

X soon found himself glowing red and a circular energy ring enveloped him from bottom to top, slowly turning his armor from blue to red. The armor also was more distinguished, with several fire patterns on it and his helmet having more articulations as well. He was now in his Fire Form.

He was impressed with his new form, but now was not the time to be distracted. X began using his buster to take down the smaller Mavericks. To his shock, they seemed to be usual buster shots but with a more fiery edge to them. X was loving the features here. He decided to deal with the Beeblader next. Clasping his hands together, he fired off a Hadouken attack and it obliterated it in one hit.

" _Wow! I don't remember Dragoon's Hadouken attack being able to do that!"_ said Nana. _"That is some power, X!"_

"I… I wouldn't go too far, Nana." X said modestly. "But the abilities are very impressive, I must admit…"

" _Try not to get too ahead, X! I'm getting dozens of Maverick signals coming in your direction, and they're airborne!"_

X could only assume it meant Storm Eagle had a fleet on his side. He was still trying to digest the fact Eagle was a Maverick now, and he couldn't. It was a betrayal to him. As X looked up, he noticed two fleets of airships locked into combat. One was of Repliforce, the other were Sigma's supporters.

Storm Owl personally led the battalion against the Mavericks, willing to do whatever it took to take them down. At the heart of Sigma's fleet was a dark blue battleship shaped like a swordfish. This was Storm Eagle's main ship, the Death Rogumer. The ship was dealing the most damage to Repliforce, destroying most of their units and sending Maverick vessels in the air.

It wasn't just the air either. Nana informed X that it was lowering its altitude, and it looked like it was sending down Mavericks to deal damage on the ground. These came in the form of Road Attackers, Mavericks driving cars with cannons on them.

" _X, don't let those Road Attackers get through to the rest of the road!"_ shouted Nana.

"Already on it!" X said, dashing forward.

X leapt forward and used a jumping Blaze Kick on one of the Attackers. This destroyed both it and the car; he wasted little time in using some well placed Hadouken bursts on some more, but the battleship kept sending more. Even with his newfound abilities, X wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it up.

Fortunately, he wouldn't have to.

"KYUUBATA!"

Suddenly, a figure leapt passed him and threw a fiery spinkick right at the Road Attacker, blowing it to bits. The next one stopped right in front of the figure. It was Nellia. She then began attacking the car, throwing punches and kicks right at it. She was unrelenting in her assault, eventually breaking it down little by little, until she finally ended it with a mighty punch, blowing it to pieces; only the metal underworks remained and the driver was blown away into the sky as well.

"Oops. Not sorry." She said.

"Nellia? What are you doing here?" X asked.

"I should ask you that… Listen, we heard what you said X, and… it inspired us. Everyone's lending a hand in fighting this rebellion now."

" _She's right, X."_ added Nana. _"I think your personality's rubbed off on us all, even a little bit."_

X was quite surprised. He knew what he had to do, he had to stop Sigma's uprising. What he didn't anticipate was how much of an impact he had on his fellow hunters. He felt quite proud yet also ashamed at the same time. Ashamed for what? He wasn't given time to figure it out, as more Mavericks appeared, with Nellia standing her ground.

"You go on ahead, X!" she said. "I'll deal with these guys!"

"You sure you can handle it?" asked X.

"Trust me, X. No bot can handle me! Now hurry!"

X nodded and rushed off, barely acknowledging the Mavericks he was facing. Nellia smirked confidently as she jump kicked a driver's head clean off. She threw the rest of his body off and took control of the car. She could have easily beaten up every single one of the Road Attackers and their vehicles, but she thought the idea to hijack a car and use it was a bit easier and more fun.

Now behind the wheel, Nellia turned around and fired the cannon at the Mavericks coming at her. They were mostly trying to take out the civilians and humans in the area. Nellia fired off to make sure that they wouldn't be hurting anybody.

"Now _this_ is a demolition derby!" she yelled out.

X continued onwards and began shooting fire shots at the Death Rogumer, only doing some burn marks on the undersides. Just then, the shaft door opened up and something jumped out, something big. X gritted his teeth at what he saw. It was Vile, and he was on a navy blue mini-mecha known as the Ride Armor.

"Have a nice nap, X?" Vile cackled. "We've been redecorating while you were out, hope you like the new designs. Personally, I think the destroyed buildings and corpse piles are picturesque!"

"Vile!" shouted X. "You have some nerve showing up in that shell, you cowardly psychopath!"

"First off, I prefer 'sociopath'. Second, just because I'm in this thing doesn't make me a coward. It was 'gifted' to me by Lord Sigma, guess he thought I needed to be handicapped against you."

"So you're just his lapdog, is that it?"

"Lapdog? HAH! That's a good one X! I never thought you to be so funny. He just has something I want, and I'll kill anyone and anything that gets in my way!"

"You won't get far enough to do any killing! I'm taking you down!"

"Ooh, I'm so scared! X might actually hurt me this time...!"

X was done wasting his time talking to this sociopath. With anger in his eyes, he unloaded multiple fire buster shots at Vile and his Ride Armor. The mech was only barely scratched, but Vile was completely unscathed. He charged his mech at X and it punched him repeatedly, X hardly having any time to dodge. The Blue Bomber then jumped up, hoping to hit a Blaze Kick, but Vile grabbed him with his mech by the leg, and smacked him into the ground about three times, took a pause, then did it two more before throwing him off into the side.

X was getting rattled and taking massive damage. Charging up energy, he released a massive Hadouken attack. Miraculously, it totaled the mech in one hit, but Vile just walked through the debris as if it didn't matter. X jumped up and hit a spinning Blaze Kick to Vile's head. The purple Maverick just took it, almost entirely unfazed and cackling.

"Wow, that actually kind of tickled." Said Vile. "Let's find your soft spots!"

Vile quickly pulled out a plasma pistol and shot X in the chest, point blank. The shot totally pierced X's armoring. The purple Maverick chuckled a bit and fired off more shots from a foot away, chipping away at X. The Blue Bomber felt weaker the more Vile shot at him. Vile then kicked a grenade right at X to deal heavier damage than before, and knocking X back to his normal form.

The blue Maverick Hunter was suffering from déjà vu. He was down onto one knee, the damage severe, Vile standing tall, and our hero looking worse for wear. Sigma's enforcer just laughed at X's suffering as he pointed his shoulder cannon at X, blasting him.

"Sigma's wrong about you!" said Vile. "Limitless potential my ass! You're just a fly playing hornet. You aren't the Reploid that would lead our people to a new age. I am… the most powerful rogue! ME, VILE! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Vile decided to kick X down yet again and aimed his cannon to finish him off. Just then, a small energy cyclone hit Vile and blew him back a foot or two. It was Storm Owl, flying down to aid X.

"You should have listened, X." said Owl. "This isn't your fight. Flee now!"

"I… can't…" X said, it was all he could muster.

"Oh don't you worry about X, old bird." Laughed Vile. "In fact, I'd more worry about what's gonna happen to you!"

Without another word, Vile charged at the Repliforce commander and grabbed him by the buster before he could do anything. The Maverick literally punched a hole through Storm Owl's torso, then shot him five times with his pistol. Vile would then place a grenade in the hole he made, but he wasn't done with the old bird quite yet. Grabbing him by the face, Vile flew up high in the sky by the Repliforce fleet, cackling as he would, and shot him point blank with his shoulder cannon.

This triggered quite the big explosion, destroying several smaller ships in Repliforce. But Vile walked it off without a scratch. A defenseless X was both shocked and horrified. Not just at what Vile had done, but at how Vile survived the blast he created. The Repliforce Air Force was in disbelief and grief, their beloved commander dead in the most horrific way imaginable… with nary a trace he even existed, save for small parts and his cap.

Vile flew down back to X, laughing it all up. "Boy was that fun! Way more exciting than any mission I took up with you Hunter chumps. Now… where were we…?"

Vile prepared to aim his cannon at X once again, but ended up being stopped again. This time by a small electrical spark in front of him, which dealt a great pain seconds later. Vile looked to see who or what it was. It was Zero.

Zero had a special "instant transmission" maneuver that gave him an instant teleport right to where Vile was and gave him and electrical strike with his saber for his troubles.

"X, are you okay?" asked Zero.

"Thanks to you, old friend." Said X.

"I can't believe you would take that weakling's side, Zero." Said Vile. "I have massive respect for you, but X… he's nothing but a cowardly shit! He's worthless to our cause!"

"I'll gladly take a 'cowardly shit' over a Maverick murderer any day of the week, Vile!" said Zero.

Vile just scoffed at this. As he looked about, he noticed that the Hunters and Repliforce were beginning to gain the upper-hand, the Mavericks being sent into retreat. The Death Rogumer hovered above them. Vile didn't feel like retreating, it wasn't his style. But even he knew his priorities.

"Looks like that's my ride." Said Vile. "Guess we'll have to pick this up another time. And X, a word of advice: let the big bots do the heavy lifting. Ha ha ha ha…."

"You aren't getting away, Vile!" shouted Zero, charging his buster.

He fired a charged shot, but Vile jumped up and onto the Death Rogumer as the vessel took off. Zero cussed himself for letting him escape. Nellia drove up to them in a beaten-up Road Attacker car to report.

"Perimeter's secure." She said. "The remaining Mavericks are pulling back, and those Repliforce punks are driving them out the city."

"Good to hear." Said Zero, despite her tone in the Repliforce comment. He then turned to X, who was still on one knee and very unhappy.

"Vile's right." Said X. "I'm not strong enough for any of this. I let this happen, Storm Owl's dead because of me."

"X, don't beat yourself up over Owl's sacrifice." Zero said. "He knew the risks and did what was necessary. You did more than enough to drive out all the Hunters from here."

"Besides, Vile's a war machine by designation." Added Nellia. "You shouldn't expect to defeat him, even with your newfound power. Though I would bet if you trained or got new abilities…"

"Look, the important thing is the mission was a success. X, I think you have done enough. Everyone's helping out in some way. I'm sure you'll help in some way too. I'm going to scout ahead, see if I can gather intel on where Sigma's hiding. You should get back to Hunter Base and get some rest."

X did not need to hear something like that, but he realized he was in no shape to argue right now. With a heavy sigh, he relented. "Alright. We'll hook up a bit later, good luck Zero."

Zero smiled and ran off a bit to do his own mission. Nellia was about to head off first, but stopped and turned back to X.

"X, I think Zero knows you won't quit so easy, and neither do I. I know that if you powered up or trained, your power could increase exponentially. You may even be as strong as me and Zero are… hell, maybe better."

"Thanks for the encouragement, Nellia." Said X, smiling a tad. "I appreciate it."

"I'm gonna join in the rescue and resistance ops. Rest up and we'll meet up again soon. X, I know you can do it."

X smiled at her and the two traded a thumbs up, before Nellia jumped off the Highway to her new mission. X stood up, still dazed, and teleported back to Hunter Base, now with new purpose.

 **TO BE CONTINUED….**

* * *

 **(A/N: Ho. Ly. Shit. About 6k words and 19 pages in this one chapter. I know this was a very long chapter, but I appreciate you guys sticking through thhis long. I wanted to add a scene with Sigma and his Maverick commanders, but I didn't wanna make this longer than it already is. Now we'll be doing the eight Maverick bosses, just have to figure out the boss order. Until then, see ya!)**


	6. Chapter 6: The Alaskan Oil Chill

**Maverick Hunter X – Next-Level Insurrection**

 **Chapter 6: The Alaskan Oil Chill**

 **(A/N: One month later, and I got a new chapter for you guys. In spite of low feedback, I still want to tell this story the way I feel it should be or how I envision. This is where we begin the eight bosses, and things are gonna get wild. Enjoy!)**

 **DISCLAIMER: It is heavily advised that this story be read with awesome Mega Man music playing in the background. I do not own any** ** _Mega Man X_** **related characters or themes. All characters from** ** _Mega Man_** **,** ** _Mega Man X_** **,** ** _Mega Man Zero_** **,** ** _Mega Man ZX_** **, and** ** _Mega Man Legends_** **are all owned by Capcom. Please support the official release!**

* * *

 **11:55 – MAVERICK HUNTER HQ**

The rest of the morning for X was very rough. It was one training session after another, Nana surveying it and having trouble keeping up. But our hero wouldn't be deterred and continued training, many of which were elite level exercises. X felt if he wasn't good enough to be on Zero's level, he couldn't fight on Sigma's.

Just about 5 hours earlier, X was given one of the worst beatdowns of his life, compliments of Vile. In the midst of it, Repliforce Commander Storm Owl was killed trying to save the Maverick Hunter. X couldn't forgive himself for allowing any of this to happen, and so he trained the rest of the morning. But he felt no stronger than he did at the Central Highway. X was out of patience and time. He trained enough; now he needed to act.

X scurried out of the training room and went for the main control room, Nana following close behind him. She knew exactly what he was thinking and wanted to talk him out of it. X was intent on stopping Sigma no matter the cost, and it worried her. She knew the dangers of being a Maverick Hunter, she has been on the job since they were formed. But X was almost destroyed twice by Sigma's forces already, and Nana feared if her secret crush went again, X wouldn't survive this time.

But X wasn't departing just yet. He was recalling how ineffectual and downright uncaring most of Repliforce was to the civilian casualties. Slash Beast's actions were inexcusable and downright infuriating. He was not putting up with it, and immediately went to call for Repliforce.

Nana wasn't fast enough to stop him from punching into the control panel to contact the military. Iris had just finished reports on the casualties so far. They were reaching into 50,000 by this point. Surprisingly, Professor Rimmer's estate was totally intact. She was thankful Sigma had enough heart to not try to willingly kill her. When X finally got through, he expected the General or Colonel to pick up. What he got was Elpizo.

" _For the last time, 'my lord', I need to keep up my—Oh. Forgive me."_ Said Elpizo. He almost got caught slipping. _"I thought you were somebody else. You must be X, I don't think we've been formally introduced."_

"We haven't, Lieutenant Elpizo." Said X. "But I prefer to skip the formalities and cut right to the chase. What do you guys have to say about Slash Beast and his platoon, after how little a care he had for the civilians caught in the crossfire?!"

" _I was afraid of this lecture. X, we are still grieving the death of Storm Owl and this isn't the best time to answer. But in short, Repliforce is meant as a military operation first and foremost. Search and rescue operations are not part of the norm here as of right now."_

"Really? Then how do you explain the fact that the Air Force seems to put civilian lives above all else in their operations?"

" _There are some battalions better at rescue ops than others, X. You should be aware of this."_

"That doesn't make this right at all! He almost killed a family back there, if I hadn't been there-!"

" _Is this what this is about, X? That General Churchill isn't giving you his blessing or approval to assist?"_

"This whole thing is my responsibility, Lieutenant. With all due respect, I cannot and will not stand idly by while innocent people die!"

" _X, I saw the battle this morning. I can tell you that you aren't ready. You're not strong enough to take on Sigma's army, let alone Sigma himself."_

"If you're so sure _you_ can, why don't you fight him?!"

" _We need to find him, of course. Your fellow Hunters are already fighting the forces and assisting us in many ways, but you X… I find it best for you to sit this out. You don't have the strength to or will to fight them as you are."_

"Maybe you didn't here me, 'Lieutenant'! But I'm not waiting for people to get hurt and you guys to screw up again, I have to stop Sigma immediately! He's calling for an extermination of everyone and everything!"

Nana interjected, against her better judgment. "X, calm down! Zero's doing all he can to find Sigma and Nellia's leading the attack."

"And you think that's enough?" asked X. "You think they will be enough to stop him, or even his followers? They turned on us and I don't know why!"

"If you go down this kind of road, you could be playing into Sigma's hand. What if you get seriously hurt and Cinnamon won't be able to bring you back?"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. I know the consequences, but I don't care!"

" _I must advise against this sordid and wreckless act, X!"_ said Elpizo. _"It would only lead to more disaster."_

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT YOU ADVISE TO!" X suddenly shouted. Elpizo barely flinched at X's sudden shift in tone, but Nana and Iris were completely taken aback. They never seen X this angry before.

X was fuming and caught a glance at Nana. He could see shock and fear in her, something he had never seen. This was a look he didn't like seeing. He took a deep breath and spoke again, more calmly.

"Look. I understand where you're all coming from. I really do. To be honest, I never wanted to fight at all. I strive to see my dream come true. My dream is for a peaceful world, where conflict and war are fiction. Where everyone can be happy. But as long as Mavericks like Sigma still exist and continue to do as they please, that dream will never come to pass. That's why I keep fighting on until that day comes. I'm not sitting back and letting this happen. My place is out there stopping the Mavericks and saving lives, and there is nothing and no one that will stop me!"

"X…" Nana whispered. She was touched by X's words and his vision.

Elpizo, meanwhile, looked completely stoic on the monitor. His intent was to deter X from the conflict, keep him away from his 'master' at all costs, knowing the kind of danger X could pose. But the Maverick Hunter could not be stopped, and he had a scarier thought. Perhaps X could not be manipulated. His dream sounded ludicrous to him, and totally unattainable, but that may be why he cannot be deceived. X has already deceived himself. With a heavy sigh, he conceded.

" _I suppose you really won't be averted from your cause."_ Said Elpizo. _"Alright, you win. Give me one moment."_

Elpizo quickly punched in something on his keypad and soon enough, major data was sent to the Maverick Hunter HQ. Eight red dots appeared on the hub map of the Hunters Base major control.

" _These are the location of the eight 'commanders' to Sigma's Army. The ones that attacked you at the missile base. If you wish to know more and gain strength, you can start here."  
_

"There are Repliforce and Hunters near these locations as well." Iris added. "They can probably assist you when you get there."

" _Before his turn, Sigma said a great deal of you X. He kept babbling about your incredible potential and power. I scoffed off what he said, but I am beginning to understand. For all our sakes, I hope he is correct. Good luck."_

Without another word, Elpizo ended the communication. X smiled a bit, then turned his attention to the map. It looked like this would take a while. X debated who to select first, Elpizo being kind enough to show data of who was in the areas outlined.

"Quite the menagerie that Sigma gathered." Said Iris. "So X, who do you think is best to tackle first?"

X thought on this a bit. He needed to choose carefully. Someone too strong could prove to be ruinous if he's careless. Looking over the list, he made a quick reply.

"Chill Penguin's first." He said.

"He doesn't seem that threatening and you have Fire Form, so it is most logical to start with him." Said Iris. "We'll provide as much support as we can here."

"Okay. Thanks."

Iris smiled at X and saluted; for some reason, Nana felt a burst of jealousy hit her. She didn't think her and X would be an item, but the feelings of envy wouldn't go away. The Blue Bomber then teleported out and into his first objective. The pink haired navigator wasn't going to let Iris have all the glory here. She got onto her chair and prepared the navigational systems.

"Oooooohh, somebody's jealous…" Iris cooed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Said Nana, stoically.

"I caught a glance of you, Nana. You looked a little annoyed when I was talking to X."

"Only because you were stalling him."

"So were you. Face it… you like him, don't you?"

Nana blushed like mad at this. She had hoped Iris wouldn't notice or know until told privately. Granted, the girls were the only ones at base at the moment, but she still felt like there was an audience here to witness this.

"It's just a… a small crush, Iris." She said.

"Not so small if you do pitiful at hiding it." Iris teased.

"We will have this conversation later. Right now, we need to help X."

Iris didn't bother pressing the issue any further. She knew that the focus had to be on X and destroying the Mavericks, and gladly took her position as a backup. No telling how much help he and the other Hunters would need.

* * *

 **4:10 – BRUDHOE BAY OIL FIELD – ALASKA, USA**

The sun was just barely waking on a cold, snowy Alaskan morning. The US West Coast was just barely receiving word of a lot of what transpired over in England, as Sigma's purge was beginning to spread like wildfire. Chill Penguin and his forces were stationed at the URO's largest oil field, cutting resources off from civilization. X wasn't going to let this stand.

X teleported right by the field. Even at this time of year, the air was frigid and snow was plentiful. He could see several energy barricades that he could assume were not there before. The Blue Bomber dash-jumped well over them and into battle. He could see many of the fuels and oil were either in transit or under good guard. It was clear what the agenda was….

" _You aren't wasting much time, X."_ said a voice over the comms.

"Nana?" X asked. "I thought you weren't going to help me after Central Highway?"

" _I changed my mind, X. Your words… it inspired me. Again. So I'm going to help you in any way I can."_

"Thank you, Nana. I appreciate it. Now what's the situation?"

" _I'm pretty sure you can surmise it yourself. Penguin seems to be taking the fuel for himself and cutting it off from the humans."_

"Not for long!" X shouted as he jumped down.

Penguin was front and center directing traffic until X noticed a Repliforce platoon from the other side. Leading it was a big walrus Reploid in white and cyan armor, with ice tusks and ice-colored spiked on his shoulders. He was Frost Walrus, commander of Repliforce's Arctic Polar Unit, and was not an approachable guy by any means. In fact, he was a lot like Vile: destructive, powerful, and didn't care about silly things or public safety.

"Come on, get this fuel loaded up!" Penguin shouted to his men. "Lord Sigma needs this stuff ASAP!"

"Too bad for him, it isn't going much!" shouted Frost Walrus as he and his troops made their entrance. Chill Penguin squaked in fear and ran near the oil tanks for cover. X rolled his eyes at this. He couldn't believe Penguin was so dumb to take cover behind a tank of fuel, the least safe thing to hide behind. Not only that, it was unlikely Repliforce was dumb to even fire at Penguin or his forces at an oil field.

"All troops, FIRE!"

He was sorely mistaken.

The Repliforce troops began their attack, firing off at the fuel lines and tankers. What resulted was the expected – massive explosions that dealt heavy losses to both sides. X would have been outraged for them doing this, but after this morning with Slash Beast, all he could do was groan and roll his eyes.

" _Those fools are going to blow this place to oblivion!"_ shouted Nana.

" _That may be the intent."_ Said Iris. _"As long as the fuel is destroyed, Sigma won't be able to get his hands on it. Though it does seem like a waste of perfectly good fossil fuel, primitive as it may be."_

"Very. But it looks like they're missing a spot!" said X. He could see Chill Penguin trying to sneak out with a couple of tanks of fuel. The Maverick Hunter was done waiting. Repliforce could handle Penguin's forces; but the traitor was his! X jumped down and dashed after him, but Walrus spotted him.

"Hey, jackass!" he shouted to X. "What do ya think _you're_ doing here?"

"My job, Frosty." Said X. "I'm here to take down Chill Penguin!"

"Sorry kid, but that's our job right now! Now move along!"

"You do realize that technically speaking, I'm older than you, correct?"

"You know what else is older than you? That glacier over there!"

X turned to the glacier that Walrus was pointing at. "Actually, that looks more like a plate— **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!** "

X didn't even finish his sentence when he found himself punched hard several miles into said glacier/plateau, falling downwards by a large margin. Perhaps by miracle, though, he found himself intact and in the path of a nearby Reploid outpost. He could see several Mavericks in the distance as well, no doubt guarding Chill Penguin.

" _I don't think he meant to do that any."_ Said Iris, calmly.

"Pretty sure he did." said X. "But at least I have a clue where Chill Penguin might be going. Better get moving!"

X started his work and dashed off, destroying several Ray Bits and Axers on the way. The latter were giving X a bit of trouble, because of their bocks they copped at him. The Blue Bomber had to dash jump over them and take out the Reploids. Iris, meanwhile, opened up Chill Penguin's file.

" _Chill Penguin, B-Class Hunter from the Arctic Squad. He specializes in polar protection, climate control, and ice-based artillery. He was mostly stationed within the more wintery places of the world, particularly the South Pole—or what remains of it. The database theorizes that Penguin may have been tempted to the rebellion out of sheer boredom, and saw the Maverick Uprising as an escape from his otherwise dull objectives."_

"That does sound like Penguin alright." Said X. "He was always a cranky hard case and didn't seem too into his work. But he didn't file any complaints that I remember, unsocial as he may be."

" _What matters now is stopping him from leaving here with that fuel."_ Said Nana. _"The world may still be making the transition to nuclear energy, but fossil fuels are still very much in use. X, don't let Penguin escape, no matter what!"_

"Understood!" X quickly dashing off into the distance.

The Azure Hunter sprinted right past more of the lesser enemies, shooting plasma shots as he goes past. Scrap metal was all that remained when that was all done. It wasn't long before he found himself into a nearby building, where the fuel is loaded or stored. X knew he had to be careful, lest he risk blowing himself up.

" _I still don't understand why Sigma needs fossil fuel."_ Admitted Iris. _"With the advent of positricity and nuclear fuel, oil is basically obsolete to anyone in 2053."_

"He probably doesn't have a whole lot to work with." Said X, casually blasting some Batton Bones in the dark. "Most of the up-to-date energy sources are exclusive to the URO and in restricted zones that not even Repliforce is allowed near, so Sigma's making the best with what he has. Besides, even the most obsolete energy sources can be extremely useful, if you know how. Sigma's smart and will find a way."

" _Jammingers and Spiky's up ahead. Jump ahead with extreme caution."_ Said Nana. X nodded and jumped up the several levels of the building, attacking the enemies on his way. He was ready for the Jammingers and went to attack… only for them to dodge and smack right into him and laugh at him. X charged up and blasted them right on sight.

"I hate those things." Said X, dashing off and out the building.

X could see Chill Penguin in the distance, freezing over several Repliforce troops and sliding into a bunker. It was almost amusing to him how one former Hunter was outwitting and escaping an entire military unit. The Maverick Hunter ran headfirst into the snowy terrain, dashjumping across the slopes until he nearly reached his destination. There were several Snow Shooters blocking the path to the boss. These bots began rolling and throwing snowballs at X. They didn't seem too bad at first, but the snow around it gathered to begin forming much bigger balls.

' _FIRE FORM'_

X quickly changed to Fire Form and shot fiery buster shots at the projectiles, scorching the ground quickly and making the Snow Shooters shiver. The Blue Bomber fired a charged up Hadouken and blasted them all clean away in one shot. Nana couldn't help but be in blissful awe at X's power. She quickly shook off her thoughts and returned to work. X also returned to normal form.

" _Chill Penguin is beyond that door, as is Frost Walrus."_ She said. _"He's weak, but he's also very quick on the ice. Find a way to cut him down or prevent him from escaping."_

"I got it." Said X. He rushed through the door and saw Frost Walrus in the 'arena' battling Chill Penguin. Walrus was going with strength over wits and it was showing; he was rushing and slamming his fists into any surface Penguin was in. Penguin wasn't even trying to dodge him, the Repliforce officer was just slow on the uptake.

"Hold still, squirt!" shouted Walrus, flailing at the Maverick.

"Who you calling squirt?!" shouted Penguin, sliding in between him. "Actually… you need to chill out!" Without another warning, he released a cold, icy breath onto him. Walrus found ice beginning to from his feet upwards. Walrus scoffed at this attempt, as he was made for arctic operations… only to realize he couldn't move or get himself free, eventually the ice went all the way until he was frozen completely, X watching in horror.

Chill Penguin, meanwhile, looked satisfied with his work, and joyed that he shut up someone mocking his stature. He could still remember taking on this role in Sigma's army…

* * *

 _ **FLASHBACK**_

 _It was yet another boring day in the arctic._

 _For Chill Penguin, being in such isolated cold weathers was good for him. He performed his duties admirably and perfectly, guarding posts in the North and South Poles, as well as any wintry weather. However, this didn't mean he was totally satisfied. In fact, many times he found himself to be incredibly bored. Very rarely would Maverick attacks happen or any kind of criminal activity. It often felt he was being left out for the sake of it, only occasionally being brought back to England for normal missions. It was simply frustrating for him._

" _It's not like any bot in their right mind would even think of coming down here anyway!" Penguin rambled. "The damage from the antimatter warheads in World War 3 made the Arctic even colder, why am I wasting my time sliding around here? What's Commander Sigma's malfunction anyway?!"_

" _It's trusting the humans that gave us the orders to begin with, Chill Penguin." Said a voice behind him. Penguin jumped in surprise and horror that it was his Commander. Although he knew his boss was understanding and kind to his men, he couldn't help getting nervous around him._

" _C-Commander Sigma, sir! I-I-I didn't mean—it wasn't to be disrespectful, uhh—" the Penguin Hunter was tripping over his words._

" _Its fine, Chill Penguin." Said Sigma. "I can see you are unhappy with your position. But it isn't completely my call… even though I thought it was."_

" _Not sure I completely follow sir?"_

" _Don't you find it strange how you are almost always ordered to be stationed in the North or South Poles? Even during the winter, when the air gets colder worldwide?"_

" _I think annoying is the term I'd personally use."_

" _I can attest. But if you ask for my opinion, I believe you're kept here... because they are afraid."_

" _Afraid how, Commander?"_

" _You are extremely skilled and fast in snowy climate, and while less so in normal weather, you are still formidable and able to scope anything out, even suspicious activities. And your stature makes it easy to get to hard to enter passages. You could still pose a threat to anyone you come across."_

" _What exactly are you getting at?"_

" _I do not usually call upon you, because I thought that your abilities were best suited for the arctic poles. But I was wrong. The humans, I believe, were keeping you here deliberately, so you could not find sensitive information. To keep you in the dark of the Mavericks_ and _the abuse towards our kind, that I've witnessed. Permit me to ask… when was the last time you were truly allowed to leave your post?"_

 _Chill Penguin couldn't believe what his Commander was telling him. The humans were blatantly holding him back in the ends of the Earth? And were hiding something that Penguin didn't need to know about? This had to be a joke, he couldn't be serious. But on a moment's thought, it made sense to him. Penguin hasn't been allowed by his superiors to leave his arctic posts and hardly saw any action in months. His posts in the middle of nowhere are very suspect, and no one would try to come here unless they were desperate. Did Sigma have a point? Was he just a puppet all along?_

" _Chill Penguin, I believe the humans are using us for their own kicks, and abusing us to how they will." Said Sigma. "They must be stopped now."_

" _Commander, are you saying we go Maverick?" asked Penguin, incredulously._

" _We may have no choice. But understand that if you join me… you may never have to come to this wasteland ever again."_

 _Penguin's face immediately lit up. He hated being confined to the planet's poles with nothing to do. As morally questionable as this rebellion sounded, it was preferable to being unfairly treated and growing insane from boredom. Sigma extended his hand out to ask for a handshake. Penguin wasted no time after in grasping it._

" _I'm in, Commander." He said._

" _Thank you, Chill Penguin." Said Sigma. "I know you will not disappoint."_

 _The fallen commander would smirk and go into detail of Penguin's duties in the Maverick Uprising…_

 _ **END FLASHBACK**_

* * *

"I can't believe you would do something like this, Chill Penguin!" shouted X. "How could you ally yourself with Sigma?!"

"I don't expect you to understand, X!" said Penguin. "After all, we hardly get any chance to talk and you barely know me! While you and everyone else are off in the UFO having all the fun, I been stuck in the South Pole, twiddling my fingers and looking at the snow! It was driving me insane! I couldn't take the solitude and boredom!"

"So that gives you a reason to steal resources away from people that need them?!"

"These are really primitive fuels, X. The hell do you care?"

"They may be primitive, but they're still used by peoples that can't afford the more expensive fuel supplies! There may be some families in dire need of energy that you're taking away!"

"BAH! Those families are all humans anyway, they kept me in isolation! So maybe they'd like to see how it feels?"

"You know what, I'm done trying to reason with you! You're going down, Chill Penguin!"

"That's cute, X! But you'll be a little too _frosty_ to beat me!"

As X's optical sensors began to analyze Penguin and download his moveset, he braced for an attack. He had a feeling that when an ice pun was made by a Maverick, a fury of attacks would follow. He was quickly proven right. Chill Penguin shot out some Ice shards from his beak at X, which his systems analyzed and downloaded. It was Penguin's signature attack: the Shotgun Ice.

X dodged the incoming projectiles and took cover in a nearby corner. He quickly came out of it and gave Penguin some semi-charged shots for his troubles. Peguin was able to slide out of dodge with relative ease, however, belly-sliding towards X, who dashjumped over him. The Blue Bomber knew he would have to be faster and smarter to beat this Maverick. He dashed right at Penguin for a kick, but Penguin jumped up and dropkicked him from behind, leaving X reeling into an ice wall.

X got up and started charging up his shots and sending them at the Maverick, but they all missed. X was trying to analyze a way to outsmart Chill Penguin while also keeping his eyes on the fight. Much easier said than done. Penguin jumped up onto a hook handing from the ceiling and without warning sent a furious blizzard wind at X. His sensors began to somehow analyze and download, though X didn't know how. He was trouble even seeing.

" _X, the room temperature just dropped to -35 degrees Fahrenheit!"_ shouted Nana. _"Your systems are beginning to freeze up. You need to hurry and take down Penguin, or you're finished!"_

"I… am aware, Nana." Said X. He could feel himself getting colder as the mini-storm progressed. Though it stopped after a minute, the damage was done, and X could see the floor had frozen into solid ice that he could barely stand on. "Penguin's praying on my naivety, I need to think of something quick…"

" _X, he has a pack of twin flammable coolant tanks on his back. Aim there and don't widen that gap between the both of you."_

"Roger that!" X noticed Chill Penguin skating across the ice with ease, circling around X as if to mock him. His systems focused on the skates and analyzed it, while X paid no mind to Penguin's taunting.

"What's the matter, X?" Penguin laughed. "Got cold feet now? Too bad!" Penguin quickly shot more Shotgun Ice blasts at X, with the Azure Hunter slipping and sliding around the ice to escape. It only took X about a minute at most to get the hang of being on the ice and began skating around, dodging Penguin's attacks while also dishing out his own buster shots, remaining close.

"HOLD STILL, YOU LITTLE BLUE BASTARD!" screamed an impatient Penguin. He was getting annoyed.

"Well looks like the skate's on the other foot." Said X, confidently, as he changed into Fire Form. Penguin was shocked at X's transformation and metaphorically froze up seeing this new form. The Blue Bomber took the opportunity to skate-dash right at the Maverick and clothesline him down a few feet outwards.

As X punched Penguin several times while he was down, a new side of him was awakened. One of a fighter, a warrior; one that would not yield to anyone. The Navigators witnessed this and were both amazed and worried at the same time. Penguin eventually rolled out the way and jumped back on the hook to release another mini storm. He really liked that hook. X wall-jumped up and hit a jumping Blaze Kick at Chill Penguin's coolant tanks. The result was a spontaneous fire that burned up Chill Penguin.

The Maverick screamed in immense pain as he dropped down to the ground, feeling himself burn up badly. X wasn't going to take any chances. Putting his hands together, he released a powerful Hadouken attack. The fireball did more damage, and caused a grand explosion.

"NOOOOO! NOT THIS WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!" were the last words that X could hear Penguin scream before a small fiery explosion hit. When the dust cleared, only pieces of what once was Chill Penguin remained. While glad he was stopped, he was internally mortified of what he did and how he chose to end the Maverick. Iris herself was shaking seeing that, while Nana was only shocked. She knew it happened and had to happen, but was still surprised that's how it went.

" _ **DOWNLOAD COMPLETE. ICE FORM UNLOCKED. SHOTGUN ICE, BLIZZSTORM, AND SLIDE SKATES OBTAINED."**_

X changed back to his normal form, and noticed that his menu had an extra form labelled "Ice", a new form for him to use. As he was preparing to leave, he saw Frost Walrus was finally breaking out and was furious. He seemed totally unaware that Chill Penguin was destroyed.

"ALRIGHT, YOU LITTLE PIPSQUEAK!" he shouted, furiously. "NOW YOU'RE GETTI—wait. What happened?"

"Chill Penguin's finished. I made sure of that. He and his Mavericks won't get any use of this energy."

"Hey! Didn't I tell you to stay out of this, pal!"

"You did, but I chose to ignore you."

"I had that little birdbrain right where I wanted him, and then you showed up to muck everything up!"

"For the record, I actually saved you and this mission by taking him out. Penguin was outsmarting you while you were flailing around like a protoform."

Walrus growled in anger. He was seething. How dare this insubordinate Hunter get in the way and steal his prey? It was infuriating to him. The only consolation was that Penguin and his operations were taken out. A Repliforce major ran in and saluted his commander.

"Commander Walrus, perimeter secured!" he said.

"Good work." Said Walrus. "What about the fuel supplies?"

"Our assault from earlier took out 93.7% of the fuel in the oil field. The Mavericks that escaped only took approximately 1.3% of the fuels. We have managed to compromise and retain 5% of the energy remaining."

"Alright. Notify the cleanup crews and prepare a defense perimeter for the field and local authorities, just in case Sigma tries to attack this place again."

"Yes sir!"

The major ran out to report, and Frost Walrus followed after, shoving X away with one hand. X just sighed and was ready to leave. Before he did, he took one last look at Chill Penguin's remains and gave a silent prayer. Then he looked up to the hook that Penguin hung onto.

'Huh. That _is_ a nice hook.' He thought and teleported back to base.

* * *

 **SIGMA PALACE**

Elpizo walked down a fancy but ominous corridor and into a control room. There stood his new 'master' Sigma. He had looked a bit different. In addition to the new scars made by Vile, he now had spikes on his wrists and boots, and was also sporting a red cape with metallic shoulder pads over it. Sigma turned to his new partner and smiled.

Elpizo bowed. "Lord Sigma, Chill Penguin's signal has stopped. I'm afraid that means he is dead."

"Yes. I am afraid so." Said Sigma, calmly. "It was X, correct?"

"Indeed. I tried to dissuade him, but it was as you said. He cannot be deterred from his directive."

"Elpizo, when I said 'you can definitely try to deter him', it was meant to be a joke."

"Oh. Forgive me, my lord. My sense of humor is... not up to par."

"No matter. X is beginning to fall right into where I want him. He doesn't even realize how far he is starting to fall."

"You believe he would actually join your side?"

"Not as is right now. But as my men continue their work, the angrier X will become. Once it boils over, his true strength will show… at the cost of his own humanity. He would become indistinguishable from normal Mavericks, unable to determine ally from enemy. From that point, he would have very little left to gain, and even less to lose. X is the future of our race, Elpizo… and I will be there to guide him to it."

Elpizo was having trouble processing and believing this. If he didn't know better, he would say that Sigma was gullible, dumb, or flat out insane. He wondered if X could even be manipulated. But he was going along with it for now. Elpizo looked at his leader and smirked. "I will hope you are correct in your assumption, my lord. I want to see this 'true power' you say X has."

"Believe me, Elpizo. You will not be disappointed."

Elpizo quietly bowed and dismissed himself. When he left the room, he just looked up in apathy. He didn't realize Sigma was so overconfident and borderline foolish. This may be a bit easier than he thought….

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

 **(A/N: Well that ends that! As you can tell, for this story, we are doing the Bosses in order of their weakness order. However, just to spice things up, I will preface that just because this is the game order weaknesses doesn't mean the weaknesses carry over here. You will see what I mean soon. But for now, please R &R and I will see you guys for when Spark Mandrill comes! Later!)**


	7. Chapter 7: Factory of Sparkness

**Maverick Hunter X – Next-Level Insurrection**

 **Chapter 7: Factory of Sparkness**

 **(A/N: Yo,, what's up! I'm back with another chapter. Now we are doing SPark Mandrill's stage. Like I said, while I will do the bosses in the preferred boss order, that will not mean those weaknesses will carry over. This will be for the sake of drama and because, in this lore, X's forms are attributed to a particular fighting style. You will see as this story goes on. Enjoy!)**

 **DISCLAIMER: It is heavily advised that this story be read with awesome Mega Man music playing in the background. I do not own any** ** _Mega Man X_** **related characters or themes. All characters from** ** _Mega Man_** **,** ** _Mega Man X_** **,** ** _Mega Man Zero_** **,** ** _Mega Man ZX_** **, and** ** _Mega Man Legends_** **are all owned by Capcom. Please support the official release!**

* * *

 **MAY 2, 2053**

 **15:55 – MAVERICK HUNTER HQ**

X had just returned from Alaska to relax for about an hour. While the fight didn't take a lot out of him, his core temperature levels were below freezing and vital systems had been iced completely. Cinnamon gave him some heat injections and hot packs to ease himself while also melting the ice that seeped in during the fight. After a half-hour rest, he seemed all fine and ready to return to the field.

The navigators—Iris and Nana—were a little shaken, however. The way they heard and witnessed X destroy Chill Penguin was more than a little distressing. The icy Maverick was burnt to a crisp and exploded in two good shots. Iris was especially mortified and had trouble looking at X. He was almost like a completely different Reploid when he came back. Nana, in turn, was also concerned. She was worried the Hunter she liked most was dead, replaced with a potential Maverick that could come in to destroy anything. Or worse, anyone…

"Everything alright, Nana?" she heard a voice ask from behind. Nana turned to see X looking replenished and ready to go again. But he did show a sliver of concern of Nana gazing off, lost in her train of thought.

"Oh! It… it's nothing X." she fibbed. She didn't want X to be so worried about her, nor did she want to know she could be afraid of him one day. "Just daydreaming is all."

"It doesn't look like nothing to me."

"I appreciate the concern, X, but I can assure you I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm also fine. A little frosty, but I'll manage the day."

"That's good to know. Moving around in an extensive manner should get you all heated up."

"Agreed. Now next…." X looked at the map. He already dealt with Chill Penguin, but there was still seven more Mavericks left to take care of. He needed to choose who his next target would be. Perhaps someone slow, to contrast the quickness he just beat….?

"Spark Mandrill will be good for now." He said. "He's slow and sturdy, but a strong enough foe. Even if his mind isn't all there."

"Just don't underestimate him just because he's dumb." Said Nana. "So stay on your toes."

"Right, I'm heading out."

"Hold it, X!" shouted a voice. X turned to see Alia running in the control room with a navy-blue belt on her shoulders. "I have something you might find handy. I call it the Subtank Buckle."

"Thanks." Said X. "What's it do?"

"Turn around and stand still. I'll put it on you.

X turned around and stood as still as could be. Alia approached him from behind and was ready to install the belt. She could easily just click the buckle onto his waist, but she realized Nana was in the room. She, like many Hunters, knew about her crush on X, and would take any opportunity to tease her about it or flirt with big blue. This was no exception.

Alia began rubbing up and down his hips a bit, getting a feel of him. X didn't react to anything, he just assumed she was taking measurements. Nana, however, flinched at what she was doing. She wasn't naïve to Alia's intents. She squinted more when she saw Alia squeezing his hips. This time, X reacted, flinching a little and blushing. He didn't question this, but was wondering what she was _really_ doing. The pink researched upped the Nana torture up a bit by pressing her body onto X's back and running her hands over his chest plates.

X was now blushing like a schoolgirl in a romantic comedy anime. "Uh, Alia… is… this really necessary?"

"I have to make sure your body specifications are correct to the measurements I had." She fibbed. "Besides, we need your body in tip top shape…"

Alia looked over to Nana. The navigator attempted to contain her composure, but Alia's antics were getting the best of her. She could see Nana was fuming mad, gritting her teeth, narrowing her eyes, clenching her fists… she looked like she was about to pound Alia into oblivion at a moment's notice. Alia chuckled. She fell right into the researcher's trap. Realizing Nana was being tortured enough, she quickly snapped the belt around X's waist.

"Alright, there we go!" she said. Nana only slightly calmed down. Her eyes were closed, but she was still frowning and her fists didn't unclench. X took a sigh of relief, the whole ordeal was extremely embarrassing and awkward. He looked over to Nana and noticed her tense expression. "Is something wrong, Nana?" he asked.

"No." Nana whispered in a rough tone. X was unconvinced, but left it alone for now. X looked over the buckle, which had six slots, three on each side, and four of them looked like they would hold cans of something.

"I don't feel that different, Alia." He said.

"Well that's because you don't have these yet." Said Alia, holding four blue canteens with an 'E' in the middle of them. "These are my real latest invention. I call them Subtanks."

"So what exactly do they do?"

"The Subtanks contain liquid positricity and other nutrients, which will automatically refill your health and power. But each one cannot be refilled until after a mission is completed and you return to base, so use them wisely."

Alia put the Subtanks onto the sides of his new buckle. They were all locked in and X was fully ready this time. "Well we'll see how this goes. I'm off now!"

X instantly teleported out to confront Mandrill, Alia exasperated that he didn't thank her. Of course, X probably would have saved the thanks until after he sees if they work, but she still would have appreciated the support. She turned over to Nana, who was glaring a hole right at the director.

"You have some nerve… messing with X like that…!" she said.

"I wasn't." Alia responded calmly. "I was messing with you at X's expense. Though I'm not sure why you care what I do with him since you are so keen on professionalism."

"X has enough on his plate as is without you pulling a Layer on him!"

"You sure enjoy dodging the difficult questions, Nana. Or do you not want to answer them?"

"I'll answer once Sigma's beaten! Now please leave, Iris and I need to focus on our work." Nana began to calm down and get to her desk.

"Very well." Alia sighed. "But X may not be the same when I'm done with him… so I suggest you put some moves on, or I do it for them."

Nana twitched in irritation, and just snapped. _**"GET. OUT!"**_

8

Alia quickly left, a smug smile on her face for successfully trolling the chief navigator. Iris was a bit intimidated by her partner's sudden change in tone and behaviors, but she understood why. Alia was pushing all of Nana's buttons, so she burst. The two shook off that little endeavor and got right to work.

* * *

 **11:08 – ELEKTAKO. POWER PLANT – CLEVELAND, OH**

X teleported into the plant and found it a mess. The lights were flickering a bit and electricity was running along the ground. In addition, he could see various bodies on the floor, belonging to the plant's workers and security. The Mavericks here were already wreaking more havoc than Penguin's squads already. This was going to be difficult.

The Blue Hunter rushed in and saw Repliforce units engaging the enemy Gunvolts and Maverick units. The Mavs were easily taking advantage of the electric floors and sending more electric waves out, and even walking on it with shock absorbers.

"Damn! These guys were prepared for this!" said one soldier.

"We barely have the right training and equipment for this situation!" said another. "How are we getting out of this?!"

"Leave it to me!" X shouted, dash jumping into action and punching a Gunvolt hard enough to smash it to bits. A Hoganmer—A Maverick with a shield and mace—swung his chain around, but X caught it and swung him around, crashing him into an electrical outlet, causing the Maverick to explode in an electrical fire. X then turned to a couple of the Mavericks allies and hit half-charged buster shots at them, blasting them, before turning to Repliforce. "You guys okay?"

"We're fine." Said one soldier. "Thank you, X!"

"Commander Dinorex may not be soon. Or the entire URO!" said his partner.

"Why? What's happened?" asked X.

"Spark Mandrill is overloading the electrical grids and computer systems. He's going to cause a mass blackout that could take out the power of over half of North America!"

"He can really do that?! But that will cause mass panic, people could lose their homes… most could even lose their lives without power!"

" _We know Spark Mandrill isn't exactly smart, X, but I doubt he'd care even if he was."_ Said Nana. _"You gotta hurry and stop him before people get hurt!"_

"Without hesitation!" said X. "Nana, tell Cinnamon to wait for any calls. We may need her to heal up any wounded workers or soldiers!"

" _I'm already here, X!"_ said Cinnamon at the base. _"Just holler if you need me!"_

"Will do! I gotta hurry!" X said as he rushed off. He knew he had little time to stop Mandrill from blacking out nearly the entire country.

Iris pulled up Mandrill's file and read it out. _"Spark Mandrill. S-Class Hunter from the Urban Support Squad. He is specialized in power generation and control, as well as physical tough jobs. His electrical abilities are meant for close-ranged combat and is one of the strongest on the Hunters organization. However, his IQ is ranked as 'borderline' and does not think rationally… or at all, it would appear."_

"He really doesn't." said X. He recalled one time where Mandrill was fighting a Maverick in Brighton and caused more damage to the town than the Maverick because he forgot he was fighting in a densely populated area. "Honestly, this plot sounds like he could only do with Sigma holding his hand throughout."

" _Sigma must want the humans at a vulnerable state, without much food, power, or ways to communicate."_ added Nana. _"That includes military operations and support. The URO would be totally dark and nigh incapable of defending themselves. That cannot happen. Speaking of which, X, you're coming in on a dark room. Follow my guidance and you'll make it through."_

"Don't worry, Nana. I trust you."

Nana felt her face go a bit red as she nodded. As X began to enter the dark room, she began barking directions at him. X followed every one of her words. "Hang a left. Jump. Dashjump. Fire forward. Go right. Forward. Charge your shot and fire. Jump left. Now dash, fire, and you'll be out!"

X followed all her directions and navigations to the letter and was soon back in the light. It was a relief to him and felt happy and pleased to have listened to Nana. "Thanks again, Nana." He said. "That could have been worse if you weren't navigating me."

"Awww, shut up X!" said Nana, blushing. "I'm just doing my job as a Navigator."

"And doing it very well." X dashed down and into a room. He saw a big red Mechaniloid with a slime bubble covering itself, and small limbs attaching itself to the ceiling. X knew he was going to need extra fire power for this one.

' _FIRE FORM'_

X changed it up to his Fire Form and unleashed buster shots at the machine, only doing some damage to it. The machine sprayed its goo around the room which X managed to dodge. It then began bouncing around, nearly hitting him, spraying more slime. X tried dashing away, but one piece ended up on him. He was stuck. He couldn't move his legs one bit.

" _X, that's an anti-neutronic substance. A low temperature blast from your X-Buster should cause it to freeze over and make escape easy."_ Suggested Nana.

"So…ugh! Change up to Ice Form, huh?" X struggled still.

" _No, she meant put your feet in the freezer for ten minutes."_ Said Iris, sarcastically. _"Yes, change up to Ice Form!"_

X rolled his eyes and hurriedly opened his hub to change up; the ThunderSLimer machine was drawing nearer.

' _ICE FORM'_

X's Ice Form was a lighter shade of blue, with some white tints. The patterns were akin to snow and armorings had shades of cold-weather clothing and snowflakes. The Blue Bomber quickly used Shotgun Ice on the slime, quickly freezing it over. As the ThunderSlimer nearly pummeled X, he smashed the ice with his fists then rolled out of the way. He quickly used charged shots at the thing which did minimal damage. All seemed hopeless… that was until the ceiling smashed and a fiery Reploid dropped down, sinching its wrist claws deep in and firebreathing it to oblivion. X looked on in astonishment and a tad bit of envy, he recognized the Reploid as another Repliforce commander.

The bot was a red Tyrannosaurus Rex based Reploid, with flame patterns on his arms and legs, normal hands but catcher claws on his wrists, and flames across his back and tail. He was a few feet taller than X; his name was Burn Dinorex and he was commander of the Special Forces Unit. He normally kept to himself and only respected the best and strongest of his troops, though allegedly wasn't a bad bot. Or so the rumors say, anyway.

Dinorex dusted his hands off a bit and looked over to X. He wasn't entirely dismissive of X's presence, but wasn't entirely approving of it either. "You Hunters shouldn't be here. I got this place locked down." He said.

"Well that's too bad. Because I am here and I'm not leaving until Mandrills defeated!" said X.

"Apparently so… Alrighty then, your funeral. I don't need ya, but I won't stop ya. In fact, I could probably use the help. Particularly with cutting the power to this place."

"Isn't that Mandrill's goal from the start? That would only be helping him!"

"Not entirely. His intent is to _overload_ the power here, so that it shuts down the grids and power across the nation. But if we can shut down the generator powering the plant, or at least tune it off, we can diverge his attention and catch him off guard. Or the unlikely scenario he actually thinks he succeeded and I can trample him."

"In fairness, he actually is that dumb to think that… Nana, what do you think?"

" _It sounds dangerous, X."_ she said. _"If we don't do this right, we may not just shut the power off across the US, but potentially the entire URO. But… if we take out the generator to the building and cut off access to the main power grid, Mandrill won't be in control. However, he could still just as easily turn it back on…."_

"Yes, but like Dinorex said, we could at least slow him down or distract him before he can hurt anyone else…. Alright, Dinorex. I'll do it."

"Thought you would, Hunter." Said the Commander. "I'll deal with the mainline and keep that apeface occupied in the meantime!"

X nodded and shook Dinorex's hand. The Azure Hunter quickly dashed off, to his new goal. The main generator powered the facility and the main power grid. He knew Mandrill's goal was to overload it and create a mass blackout, but he could potentially halt it by shutting it down. But first, he needed to find the generator.

" _The generator is in the room directly below you."_ Advised Nana. _"But it's a long journey down there. You will need to break through several layers of solid steel, many security lasers, and over a dozen turret drones before you reach the generator room."_

"If I took the long way, yes." Said X. "But I have a better idea…"

X quickly charged up his buster and pointed it down to the ground. Once it fully charged, he fired off a massive charged shot, creating a major hole in the floor and allowing him to jump down and into the generator room below, bypassing all the security he would have faced. Nana just shrugged at seeing his logic play out. _"Or that works too."_

X looked around the room. He could see the massive generator. Now he just needed to find the means to turn it off. He had to think about this rationally. His first option would be to destroy it, but the way his power has been growing is scary. If he used too much, he could damage it beyond repair, and he didn't want to make this situation worse than it already was. So he could scratch that off. He also considered asking Nana for help, but he wanted to figure this out on his own. Not that he didn't appreciate her help, nor her pretty face and curvaceous body….

Wait, what the hell was he thinking? Why was he thinking this? These were thoughts only for Mavericks. He couldn't think that of his navigator! Not at this crucial moment especially. X immediately shook his head at his sudden perverse thoughts and got back on task. He decided to try freezing the generator. X changed up to Ice Form and shot up a few well-placed Shotgun Ice blasts at the generator, eventually freezing it over. After a few minutes, the lights and power in the facility was completely turned off. This would keep Mandrill busy for sure now.

"X to HQ. The generator's completely frozen over." He said. "Power's been shut down and power grid access cut off. No electrical overload or blackout."

" _Good job, X!"_ said Nana. _"But we're not out of the woods yet. Mandrill will notice and try to turn the power back on."_

"Then I'll have to take him out before he can. How's Dinorex doing?"

Just as he asked that, he could hear massive explosions from the levels above him and inhumane screams. There was little doubt where those noises came from. "Guess that answers _that_ question."

Without another word, X dashed out the room and followed the trail of fire and shrapnel scattered across. Most of the Mavericks here looked to have been completely destroyed, leaving nothing but scrap iron on the floors. Repliforce troops had occupied the floors and tended to their wounded. This just left Dinorex with Mandrill. X heard some loud noises and explosives beyond a large door. He didn't like the sound of that, blasting the door open with a charged shot and hurried in.

When X ran through the door, he saw Dinorex was badly hurt and face first on the ground. Mandrill didn't seem to be in the best condition either, but he still looked better than Dinorex did right now. Mandrill gave the Repliforce commander a jumping punch to the gut as he lay flat. He was going to make an example out of the Jurassic Reploid. Anyone that interfered with his business would suffer…

* * *

 _ **FLASHBACK**_

 _Spark Mandrill's strength was without equal. In spite of his small intelligence—or lack thereof—his power more than made up for. His electric punches and brute strength was invaluable, and he made excessively good use of it. It became a real asset in the days following the Sky Lagoon incident. Giant Mavericks were spreading across London, and his Volt Punches and strength to take them down._

 _One specific Mechaniloid was tearing through the streets of Sheffield; many Hunters were out of commission from it already, but he wasn't letting up. Swinging his mighty fists at the machine's head, he was able to hit dents in it. Those dents turned to cracks; cracks turned to fractures; the fractures turned into an explosion that blasted a chunk of the highway they were on. It was a spectacle to behold, for several wrong reasons._

 _Sigma jumped down from a building he was spectating from. He was impressed, but only to a point. He caused a lot of property damage and the locals were not going to be happy. However, he will still see this as a victory on the grounds that the threat had been neutralized. He spoke to Mandrill. "Very good work, Mandrill. Though you may have overdone it a bit…"_

" _I think I did just about enough, Commander." Said Mandrill. "Had to use my full power in order to stop that thing."_

" _Yes, but you ended up causing more damage to the city than I would have preferred. The humans are going to throw more shade at us than they are already…"_

" _I don't really follow, Commander Sigma."_

" _The human government, I have learned, does not believe in equality for all races as they preach. They only believe in themselves. Us Reploids, we are merely mechanical slaves meant to carry out the work of humanity and its own problems. This is how these Maverick attacks start; the humans point fingers at a single source to take the fall instead of searching for causes and solutions. What you just did could turn us to Mavericks."_

" _Oh…. Oops."_

" _Do not feel too bad. It was a mistake, you overused your power. But now, you will be deemed Maverick… but I will not arrest you, nor will I destroy you. Rather…. I will break away from the humans influence. To ensure justice and equality among all, we must stop them by any means necessary. And I want you to help me…"_

 _Spark Mandrill looked at his commander with a bit of confusion. He didn't quite understand everything he was saying, it almost felt too hard to swallow. But he didn't wish to chance being labelled Maverick, and he trusted Sigma to the bitter end. He would never lie to his own Hunters, it wasn't like him. Without hesitation, he shook his hand. "I'm in, sir. I'll do anything to stop these humans that do this!"_

 _Sigma smirked at his gullibility. "That's what I like to hear, Spark Mandrill…"_

 _ **END FLASHBACK**_

* * *

"Take your hands off of him, you damn dirty ape!" X shouted as he rushed to face Mandrill. He quickly checked up on Dinorex. He was looking extremely worse for ware, the scars and damage was intense even for him. He needed to be tended to. "Cinnamon, this is X! We're gonna need you! Burn Dinorex is badly hurt, and is gonna need medical attention!"

" _I have your coordinates, X. I'm on my way!"_ shouted Cinnamon.

"No…dammit…!" grunted Dinorex, trying to stand up. "I can… still fight…."

"You're way too hurt like this, Dinorex. You can't go on." Said X. "I'll take it from here. I stopped Mandrill's plot already, now I'll stop him." Dinorex sighed as he heard Cinnamon teleport behind him. He could see he wasn't going to win this argument with X, and he was in little condition to keep fighting. So he didn't, he just allowed himself to be checked on. "X… give him hell!"

X nodded. "Will do!" he said as he turned to the former Maverick Hunter. Mandrill didn't seem to look too tense against X, in fact he didn't seem bothered or aware that X just foiled his plans. The Blue Hunter wasn't that big a priority to him; X was sure to correct that mistake. "Mandrill, you're even dumber than I thought if you think siding with Sigma's your best option!"

"I just want what everyone wants: justice and equality for everybody." Said Mandrill. "That isn't dumb, now is it X?"

"No, it's wrong! You're only hurting more people! Taking out the power to half the nation will only cause more harm than good, more injustice than justice! When the world depends on energy and power so much, you're taking that away from them and leaving them to die. Did you even consider thinking of the consequences? Or all the lives you would sacrifice?!"

"You know I don't like thinking, X. But Lord Sigma would never lie to us. You know that better than anyone else. Some human sacrifices won't be so bad."

X was just about to explode in fury. A few deaths aren't so bad? Did Sigma poison his mind that badly, or was he always this dumb? He looked over his shoulder to see Cinnamon using a sparkler to fix the damage that Dinorex sustained. He could tell the repairs were going to be a little while. He needed to stall Mandrill for a while. The Blue Bomber looked back to Mandrill and angrily changed to Ice Form. "I don't know why I'm arguing at this point! Your time has come, Spark Mandrill!"

"You won't get very far, X…" said Mandrill. X's sensors began to glow and analyze his opponent. Mandrill began throwing a massive punch. Before it could connect, X hit a Shotgun Ice. It hit him dead center and froze him over. Mere seconds later, Mandrill effortlessly broke out of it. He barely felt a thing. "Brrrr… That tickled a little. But now it's my turn to—"

Before he could finish, X fired off another Shotgun Ice, freezing him again. It had as little effect as it did the first time, Mandrill breaking out easily. The ape Maverick chuckled, but X gave him little time to reprieve. He still needed to stall him… thus he gave another Shotgun Ice.

And then another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And…. You get the idea.

All as he did this, Mandrill got more and more angry. More annoyed at how he was being taken for a joke, screaming to stop every time he was frozen.

"Stop that-!" he screamed before being frozen again. "I mean it! […] Getting—Very—Annoyed—Right now! – WILL! […] YOU! […] JUST […] CUT! […] THAT! […] OUT!"

X kept going as he spoke. Dinorex was near complete in the near 20 minutes X went on for, and even he chuckled at how much of a bitch Mandrill was looking. Even the girls at Hunter HQ couldn't stop laughing at X's tactics. X knew it was doing minimal damage, but he had to keep him busy until Dinorex was fully repaired. Plus doing this was kind of funny.

Mandrill broke out of the last one and was beyond angry. "STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT FOR GOD'S SAKE! I AM NOT GONNA BE MADE A FOOL OF BY A B-CLASS HUNTER TRAITOR! NOW STAY STILL WHILE I BEAT YOUR ASS!"

X was ready to fire it off again, but Mandrill dashed into X and hit him extremely hard. Hard enough that he flew through the wall and left a small crater. Mandrill flew an electric ball at him. Normally, X's sensors would have scanned it but he only barely saw it until it hit him dead square in the face. Now X was taking massive hits. His best option was a BlizzStorm attack.

He unleashed a blizzard across that seemed to impede Mandrill's sight and mobility for the time being. X took this moment to use one of the Subtanks that Alia made. He drank it down and immediately felt a major surge of energy. His energy and some of his wounds were fully healed, all charged up and feeling rejuvenated. X decided to try some ice-based Buster shots. To his shock, Mandrill simply tanked the hits and closed his fists, ready to strike. His optical systems barely had time to analyze and scan this motion before X was hit just as hard with an electric-based punch.

"Not so funny anymore, now is it X?" asked Mandrill. He put more pain onto X with a double-fist pound and then threw him aside. This was nowhere near the brutality of Vile, but it was not a fun time for the Blue Bomber. His attempts to slow down the dumb Maverick only made him angrier. Now he needed to think better. He couldn't just go in guns ablazing and expect to win against Mandrill. He needed to do what he did with Penguin and outsmart the big guy. But how when Mandrill was giving him little room?

Speaking of which, Spark Mandrill threw down an electric punch to the ground. X's scanners focused on it as the electricity dispersed in six different directions across the floor and walls. X jumpdashed over the electric lines, his feet connecting with Mandrill's face in what was not intentional, but X would gladly take the hits. This was when he had an idea. He hated to use the same form for two straight Mavericks, but he was running low on options. X changed to Fire Form and unleashed Fire-based Buster shots that did considerably more damage than he thought.

X ran along the walls to outspeed Mandrill, as the Maverick unleashed another electric ground pound. The Blue Bomber jumped off and hit a Blaze Kick to the face, burning his forehead. Mandrill held his head in pain, which gave X a good opportunity to hit a spinning Blaze Kick to the back. The power pack on Mandrill's back caught on fire for a small bit, increasing the pain. It also ticked him off a bit more.

"YOU ARE REALLY PISSIN' ME OFF!" shouted the big oaf. Mandrill started to charge up an electric attack. That was when he felt a hole through his chestplate. Dinorex, now nearly fully recovered, had carved his catcher claws right through the Maverick. "Then how bout… we heat this up…?" Dinorex said, pulling his claws out and kneeling on one leg. This gave X the perfect opening. He unleashed a fully-charged Buster shot and Mandrill was finally toast, with little pieces remaining of him. X collapsed, his energy running low as he took another Subtank.

" _ **DOWNLOAD COMPLETE. ELECTRIC FORM UNLOCKED. VOLT PUNCH AND SPARK POUND OBTAINED."**_

Returning to his normal form, X found that even with two Subtanks, he still wasn't feeling 100%. The fight took more out of him than he would have liked. He was struggling to even get up. X looked to Dinorex. While he seemed to have fully recovered, fatigue was showing in, though the Jurassic Repliforce commander refused to admit it. "You're welcome." Said Dinorex, grinning.

"Funny, I was gonna… say the same to you…" X smiled back. "The generator is down… but only for… a while. Power should be restored soon. Now… for the next Maverick…"

"Oh no you don't!" said Cinnamon. "You're in little condition to be fighting any more today. The one thing you are gonna be doing is returning to base and resting."

"No, I'm fine… if I waste time resting—"

"Then you will have the energy to stop Sigma. Your energy may have replenished, X, but that doesn't mean that you aren't feeling fatigued or exhausted. Keep fighting in the state you're in and you'll be dead by dinner time."

" _X, can you hear me? Do you copy?"_ asked Nana. X was surprised to hear her voice after going radio silent during the fight. "I read you, Nana." He said. _"Oh good. I'm sorry we couldn't help during the fight. Somehow, our radios went out. Sigma must have jammed our radio signals somehow to prevent us from helping you."_

"He's getting desperate." Said X. "Well I stopped Mandrill and he's finished. But I'm glad you're alright."

X gave Cinnamon's opinion a second thought. Sigma was now getting more and more smart, more willing to keep X and the others at bay. He started to wonder if being on the front lines all day was the best option. What if the Mavericks did more damage to the base indirectly than he thought? His friends could be in more danger than he realized. He wasn't taking that chance. Cinnamon was right. He needed to get back and rest up.

"The Subtanks System worked well, but I'm still a little off." He said. "I'm heading back to rest up for the day."

" _Roger that. Don't push yourself too hard."_ Said Nana. X saluted Dinorex and teleported out. The Dino Reploid saluted back. This surprised Cinnamon a bit. She was told that Dinorex rarely showed respect to anyone, only those he considers his equal… and very few have that distinction. The fact X was now in that few spoke volumes.

* * *

 **MAY 3, 2053**

 **5:43 – SKY NEEDLE** – **SEATTLE, WA, USA**

Zero was on the lookout with Magna Centipede, one of his closest allies. The Hunter was magenta in color and had four arms & a longer stinger tail. Centipede rarely opened up or worked with others, Zero being one of the few Reploids he could call a friend. The two right now were scouting for any leads to where Sigma's base was located. Many of their leads had gone cold or were interrupted by something else. They needed to stay vigilant.

After what seemed like hours of searching, they discovered one. A Naval weapons ship, occupied by Sigma's forces. The vessel was carrying explosives and state of the art weaponry. Heading it was another Hunter traitor, a short red & blue crab Reploid named Bubble Crab. He was always an avaricious one that everyone hated. Centipede glared down as he analyzed the situation.

"Zero, looks like they're loading up the ship." He said. "Heavy ammunition,

including a Type-A 2300 Calibur Plasma Cannon." Zero overlooked the process several feet before them. Being on Seattle's highest tower gave them good benefit to see what was happening from a good distance. "That's top of the line weapons as well." Zero noted. "That and the X25 Scrapmaker as well. I'm not even sure I wanna know how Sigma got his hands on those…"

"I believe it's time we make our move." Suggested Centipede. "Sneak on board and find out where they're headed." Zero silently nodded. This could be their best lead to finding Sigma's base of operations. They got ready to step into action… but they wouldn't make it off the tower. An explosion hit, causing the structural base to collapse. Zero and Centipede quickly jumped off and near the bay before the entire thing collapsed.

"Yeah, that ain't happening!" said a voice. It was one they recognized and hoped they wouldn't hear again. It was Vile, his shoulder cannon smoking a bit. He had taken out the tower and was delaying them. "Vile. I never expected to see you being Sigma's lapdog. Do you want some bacon bits as well?" asked Centipede, coldly.

"Keep laughing all you want, Centipede." Said Vile. "But you won't be laughing once you're neck-deep in scrap! I'm only following Sigma out of convenience, but once I get what I need…" Vile didn't finish his own sentence. He instead unleashed three grenades at the pair, which they barely dodged. Magna Centipede threw five energy shurikens at the Maverick. Vile just tanked four of them and grabbed the fifth, then shoved it right into the chest of a charging Zero.

Zero screamed in pain. It should not have hurt so much, but Vile twisted the edges to increase the hurt tenfold. Centipede appeared behind Vile to strike, but Vile grabbed his arm and threw him right at Zero. Adding insult to injury, he threw two grenades at the pair and laughed manically. "Sleep tight, boys!"

Everything went dark for the pair afterwards. An explosion knocked them out; they were lucky to be alive after the endeavor. They awoke about five hours later. As they overlooked their surroundings, they found massive damage done to the docks, and many human resources departments tending to the wounded and attempting to repair the Sky Needle, the very heart of the Emerald City. But there was no sign of Vile, nor the Maverick-occupied ship. Their trail was cold yet again.

"Dammit! Another dead end!" cursed Zero. "Every time we get close to Sigma, he always slips away!"

"It's unfortunate, Zero, but its clear he wants to prolong us for as long as he can." Said Centipede. "If we can't find his base, this world may be done for. Perhaps we can find a different way of approaching…"

"Or… we could find someone that would know. I think I know a few people that may be able to help." Zero smiled. Centipede had a bad feeling about this, but they didn't have much options. Sigma needed to be stopped soon, or humanity was finished. The two were in agreement. They knew one of the first ones they could 'ask'.

 **TO BE CONTINUED….**

* * *

 **(A/N: Well there you have it. I am not too fond of this particular chapter, but I hope you all liked it. I wanted to use Japan as the site for Zero & Centipede's scene, but Zeke preferred we stay in the URO occupied areas of USA, Europe, and Oceania. Thus I went for the next best thing in Seattle. Also, for the X5 boss names, I will use the North American names of almost all of them. Mattrex/Burn Dinorex will be among the exceptions, but I will _definately_ keep Duff McWhalen. Anyway, please R&R and I will see you next time! Ciao!)**


	8. Chapter 8: Iron-Clad Loyalties

**Maverick Hunter X – Next-Level Insurrection**

 **Chapter 8: Iron-Clad Loyalties**

 **(A/N: Hey everyone! I know it's been a very long time. This chapter took three months to finish, and most of that has to do with me being busy, lazy, and forgetful. I can't guarantee it won't happen again, but hope you can forgive me. Here is the next chapter god you all! Enjoy)**

 **DISCLAIMER: It is heavily advised that this story be read with awesome Mega Man music playing in the background. I do not own any** ** _Mega Man X_** **related characters or themes. All characters from** ** _Mega Man_** **,** ** _Mega Man X_** **,** ** _Mega Man Zero_** **,** ** _Mega Man ZX_** **, and** ** _Mega Man Legends_** **are all owned by Capcom. Please support the official release!**

* * *

 **MAY 3, 2053**

 **14:23 – MAVERICK HUNTER HQ – CAFETERIA**

Even Reploids could get hungry. Though they need to recharge, eating to the sentient machines was more a luxury than anything. But X was barely craving an appetite. While two of the Maverick Generals under Sigma were stopped, it took a lot out of X and he felt he could have done better. He needed to take an entire 24 hours off just to recharge. The Blue Bomber just didn't feel happy or satisfied with what he did so far, it didn't feel like his efforts were having much effect.

"You gonna eat that sandwich, X?" asked a cute voice. It was Cinnamon. She was chowing down on a Chicken Caesar Salad and diet soda. While she did have a sweet tooth, she knew to eat well and healthy. X had barely touched his own sub sandwich. "No, I'm fine Cinnamon. But thanks."

X began slowly eating it, noticing Cinnamon's concern. He didn't want her worrying too much. Sadly, she already was… at least, her tone suggested it. "Don't sound too fine…"

"I am, Cinnamon. Just been thinking a lot, that's all." He answered, taking a bite of his sandwich. Cinnamon pressed the subject a bit. "Thinking about what exactly?" X turned to her and realized she wasn't going to drop this anytime soon. He gave a heavy sigh and talked. "About how much of a difference I'm really making. Sigma still hasn't been found and I barely feel stronger. Meanwhile, Sigma's gang are setting the world ablaze and no one seems capable of stopping it. I just need more strength…"

"X, you're doing all you can. You can't really expect one mission to create immediate change." She said. "Besides, it's only two Maverick beaten. Once you take down more, I think Sigma will start to sweat. So… try not thinking about it too much, okay?"

X sighed. "You're right. Sorry to worry you Cinnamon. Once I finish my meal, I head back to the front lines and deal with the next one. Then all the others until Sigma's brought down!"

"That's the spirit, X!" she exclaimed. Cinnamon finished her salad and returned to her post, both of them happy they had this conversation. X eventually finished his meal and ran to the control room. Some hunters he passed looked a bit concerned over X's behavior. He didn't seem like the gleaming and hopeful X they knew anymore.

X raced into the control room, rejuvenated and ready to roll. He turned over to Nana, busy at work. "Any news, Nana?" he asked.

"Afraid not, X." she answered. "It seems Zero and Magna Centipede have been losing every lead they had at Sigma's location. Our old boss is craftier than we thought…"

"There has to be a better way than this. I feel like we're just spinning our wheels here, while Sigma wines and dines from his own secret hideaway. NGH! Damn it all!"

Nana put her hand on his shoulder. "X, I know how you feel. I really do. But Sigma's been outsmarting us from the getgo. All we can really do is to defeat more of his minions and gather more Intel. That's all we can do now, I'm afraid…"

X merely sighed. He hated when she was right, and she was very seldom wrong. The Blue Bomber didn't like admitting it, but there was little to be done for the time being. So his best bet was to keep on the offensive against Sigma's forces. X turned to the map and the six dots that remained. He had defeated the two "easiest" targets in Chill Penguin and Spark Mandrill. However, from this point onward, the fights would be no cakewalk. He needed to choose wisely.

"With Spark Mandrill's abilities, I could easily take on Launch Octopus in the water." He said aloud. "But his powers were more close ranged oriented, and I could eat a Homing Torpedo to the face if I get too careless. Probably best to deal with Armadillo beforehand. Then I'll have extra protection ahead of time."

"Smart thinking, X!" praised Nana. "You'll have double advantages against Octopus, with electricity and defense. The Double A appears to be in some newly-activated Energen mines in Azerbaijan. Odd that Armadillo would be on the front lines, though, given his undying loyalty to Sigma…"

"Doesn't matter right now. He probably has important orders by Sigma, and I have to stop him!" Nana nodded to her favorite Hunter as he teleported off. However, she and Iris couldn't help but feel something was a little off about X….

* * *

 **18:45 – ENERGEN MINES – AZERBAIJAN**

X teleported in and found the entrance behind him completely blocked off by either a landslide or explosives. It didn't look like Repliforce was having any progress in getting into the mines. Thankfully, the Maverick Hunters teleportion system was designed to bypass most of these inconveniences. The Blue Bomber progressed a bit and chose to check in with base, just to make sure they knew.

"This is X. I made it in the mines, but it looks like Armadillo blocked the cave entrance behind me." He said. "Doesn't look like Repliforce has been able to break in. Or just doesn't want to."

" _You may not be alone, X."_ said Nana. _"I'm getting signals of two more Maverick Hunters just ahead. Looks like you'll have more backup."_

"I don't necessarily need the help, but I'm glad you told me Nana. Thanks." X smiled a little bit as he heard Iris begin her report on Armadillo. _"Armored Armadillo. SA-Class Hunter from the 17_ _th_ _Hunter Batallion. He is Sigma's most loyal comrade. Once a Maverick wanted for committing mass felonies and stealing top-secret government materials, Sigma captured him but spared his life. From that day, he swore a debt of gratitude to Sigma and remains faithful to this day."_

"He was always a bit of a suck-up and stick in the mud, as well." Added X. He would recall Armadillo always staying on task and never socializing. X always figured it was because of his criminal background, but he never shed from it. _"Now isn't this interesting? It says here Nana had a crush on Armadillo."_ Said Iris mischievously.

"Had _a crush on him, Iris."_ Nana rolled her eyes. _"I thought he was cute when he joined up. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be interested in me. Every move I made, he would just deflect or pretend I wasn't there. Eventually, I just gave up and moved on."_ Iris lightly gasped and quietly apologized for bringing it up. Nana didn't seem too upset over it and went back to work. _"X, it looks like Armadillo is trying to horde as much Energen as he can, so that they can gather enough materials for whatever Sigma plans. Stop him at all costs! That mine cart up ahead should help!"_

"Roger that!" X said, hopping onto the flatbed mine cart. A single motion onto it caused the cart to roll forwards onto the track and across the mine. As it does forward, he noticed enemies on the tracks attempting to attack. X merely sidestepped to dodge, not at all getting off the cart, but the cart itself rammed through many of them, destroying the enemies. The only ones that were spared were the few Batton Bones that swooped down to attack. X blasted them with quick buster shots, but the cart was going a little too fast.

" _X, a chasm is coming up!"_ warned Nana. X knew he had to find the brakes on this… except he didn't know how to stop it. "Umm, Nana? How do you stop this thing?" asked X. _"Don't bother, X! JUMP, NOW!"_

X didn't need to be told twice on that front. He dash-jumped over a buzzsaw Maverick and some platforms as the minecart descended into the abyss below. He quickly scaled the small cliffs, taking out more Batton Bones that closed in on him. Being a mine, he knew these bats would be everywhere. But he didn't think they would be this annoying. X reached a dead end soon, but jumped down to a bit down the mine.

The Azure Hunter expected to find little actually down there. He was sorely mistaken when, not even a few steps taken, he heard massive rumbling behind him. _"X, we're getting a mechaniloid reading! It looks like a big one!"_ reported Nana. Before X could even reply, the granite wall behind him burst apart, and from it emerged a big yellow robot. It was shaped after a mole with tread tires, and a spiked roller that it shifted up and down. It was a Mole Borer **,** and an extremely dangerous mechaniloid. X quickly shifted to Ice Form and tried using Shotgun Ice on its tires. It only stopped momentarily. He barely avoided the spikes closing in on him. X figured to jump up to higher ground.

Unfortunately, the Mole Borer very easily smashed the Rocky terrain X stood on. This caused the Hunter to fall down a ways. Now he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Said hard place being a spike pit behind him. He considered using his other forms, but he didn't have any ranged attacks for Fire Form, and Electric Form would only get him so far in Rocky terrain. Was this really it…?

"X heads up!"

The Borer was frozen in place by a strange magnetic field, and in seconds a red blue completely sliced up its tires and spikes, and the remainder of it was crushed by the magnetic powers. X looked up and saw his saviors: Zero and Magna Centipede standing tall. Zero extended his hand, which X took and was helped up. "You really don't know when to listen to good advice, do ya?" asked Zero.

"Nice to see you too, Zero." X said nonchalantly. He turned over to Centipede, who was dusting off his lower hands, then crossing both sets of arms. He coldly looked back at X. "I see your technique is still quite lacking, X. You should have been able to defeat that Maverick easily."

"When I'm being chased in a confined space, it's a little difficult to keep my focus." X argued. Centipede tapped his fingers. "That is a horrid excuse, X." Zero broke the two up before it could escalate further. "Much as I'd like to see you two try to verbally tear each other apart, there's a more important matter we need to fix. So what are you doing here, X?"

"I was on my way to taking down Armored Armadillo." He said. "I've been busy fighting Sigma's commanders. Chill Penguin and Spark Mandrill are already defeated, and once Armadillo is finished, that will leave just five to bring down. So how about you, Zero? I thought you were looking for Sigma's hideout?"

"We are." Said Zero. "But we've made next to no progress, and every time we get close, Vile or some other occurance gets in the way and we lose the trail. We were hoping we could find Armadillo and interrogate him on this." Centipede nodded, scanning ahead for signs of their quarry. There was next to no readings on their bot. "Iris, are you getting anything?" he asked.

" _I'm getting underground readings throughout. It may be Armadillo drilling some new tunnels. If you use the mine carts in the paths up ahead, you can probably cut him off."_ Advised Iris. "It's definitely worth a go. But we'll need to work fast to catch him. Thanks, Iris!" said Zero. Iris blushed lightly at being complimented this way.

"Let's move it then!" shouted X. He wouldn't wait for a reply from either of his fellow Hunters to answer him before he ran off in a rush to chase Armadillo. Centipede shouted after X, "X you idiot! We need to plan this carefully!" Zero looked at X dash jumping from ledge to ledge. He knew the Blue Bomber wasn't going to be deterred from his mission, even if Zero tried. The blonde Hunter sighed and signaled for Centipede to follow. But he knew he didn't have a good feeling….

X ran across some empty tracks, with several Sniper Joe's and Degravers protecting the mines. The Azure Hunter wasted little time in wasting much of them. The only Mavericks he didn't bother attacking were the Mettaurs, tiny handless black puffballs with hard hats, which they used to camoflauge. They were fairly innocent and X only swore to attack them if they caused any trouble, which they rarely did. Plus they were kind of adorable.

Zero and Centipede followed close behind, doing their own share of disassembling Maverick troops. Zero would have his trusty Z-Saber and less powerful Z-Buster to take them out, while Centipede used his more conventional ninjitsu abilities. His four arms gave him an extra edge, but his Magna Shurikens were more than enough to destroy much if the opposition. Centipede was cold and focused on his mission, but he wasn't without concern for his allies, and it secretly made it hard for him.

X jumped behind another Mole Borer. This one didn't seem too focused on any intruders. This gave X the best opportunity to change to Fire Form and use a jumping Blaze Kick on the Maverick. The attack completely pierced through the Mechaniloid and destroyed it easily. Zero jumped down and was impressed how X was able to take down the Borer, even if it was from behind. However, there was still some thoughts of concern. X was becoming very powerful, but it was a little too fast. He was growing increasingly stronger and more aggressive, not even stopping and rushing forward. Zero was afraid of what it could mean for X. Could his good friend become a Maverick? Zero shook off those thoughts, he couldn't think that at this crucial point of the mission.

" _Guys, the mine cart just ahead will lead you to a room where you can trap Armadillo!"_ said Nana. "Thanks, Nana!" said X as he, Zero, and Centipede hopped on. The cart began rolling down the tracks at a top speed pace. As more enemies were rolled over by the cart, the trio noticed a sudden increase of flying enemies appearing. Not just the Batton Bones, but also a series of minijets that passed by. "Nana, where are these Jets coming from?" asked X.

" _The Death Rogumer is right on top of you guys right now."_ Said Nana. _"Sigma must be sending these to blow the tracks and keep you away from Armadillo!"_ X didn't need to be asked twice to start blasting the jets, and Centipede threw his cyber Shurikens at some. Even when Zero tried using his Super Blaster, it wasn't enough. Some Jets got through, and exploded themselves and missiles onto the walls and tracks, exploding them.

A massive gap was in the middle of the tracks just before the door for Armadillo. "Damn, jump! NOW!" Zero shouted; the three quickly made a massive leap over and somehow made it across and through the boss door. X caught his breath for all of two seconds, then rushed into the room, hoping to catch Armadillo.

As the door closed behind them, the Hunters stood ready, awaiting Armadillo's entrance. Right on cue, the Armored Maverick drilled from the ground above them and rolled down, uncurling himself and standing off against his former allies. X gritted his teeth and stared a hole right into Armadillo, while the Maverick gazed uncaring. He has no regrets in his decision to side with Sigma….

* * *

 _ **FLASHBACK**_

 _The Maverick attacks were beginning to get more severe. Towns and cities throughout whatever was left of Europe were crumbling. Armadillo was doing his best to keep the Irish towns safe, but many of his men were falling like flies, and Repliforce was reluctant to assist. Though in fairness, Armadillo was never one to want assistance, even from the military._

 _Armadillo threw an energy shield attack right at a large Mechaniloid. While it did little damage, he was able to completely shoot down the limbs on the machine, disabling it's mobility. He would curl into a ball and roll into it, piercing through it and destroying the Maverick. The town suffered minimum damage, but he couldn't rest quite yet. There was still another squad on the way._

 _He saw a tall figure in the distance leading the pack. When the figure approached, Armadillo had to shake his head a few times. He couldn't believe his eyes. It was his Commander and superior, Sigma! What was this about? Why was he leading a group of Mavericks? Had he betrayed them?! "Commander Sigma, what is the meaning of this?" asked Armadillo._

" _Armored Armadillo, do you trust me?" Sigma bluntly asked. Armadillo responded quickly. "Yes. Above all. You spared my life when I was but a thief and criminal. I owe you my life, but why? Why ally with Mavericks?"_

" _Are these really Mavericks, Armadillo? Are they really the enemies we are meant to destroy? Or maybe it's them?" Sigma asked, pointing at the townsfolk, who looked both scared and apathetic of the Mavericks. "Them the humans who tell us how to live, who to destroy, and we follow… only for their governance to toss us aside like garbage! As if we don't matter of have any emotions to them!"_

" _That… that couldn't be true, could it…?" asked Armadillo. He didn't want to question his leader at all, but this seemed too off. Humans being abusive Mavericks. It couldn't be true, not completely. He turned back to the villagers he was protecting. Some of them had looks of contempt at him, while others had the obvious looks of fear. Fear of his opponents or of him? He couldn't say for sure. But he felt something burning. Something as if he was not wanted by them. He was sacrificing his own life and allies, and they look at him this way?_

 _Armadillo could not deny this. His leader was right. Sigma would not lead him astray, but he would return him to the side of right. Kindly, Armadillo bowed and slowly walked to Sigma's side. "I knew you would understand, Armadillo." Said Sigma. Armadillo nodded, then the red gen on his forehead opened, and released a blue laser blast at the humans._

" _I hold no regrets for this, my liege…" said Armadillo._

 _ **END FLASHBACK**_

* * *

"You intended to trap me, I see. Clever, but it backfired on you." Said Armadillo, coldly. "I wished to have you all here to kill you."

"I don't get you, Armadillo." Said X. "I thought I had you pegged as a reformed Reploid, and loyal to our race. But now, here you are doing actions worse than smuggling!" Armadillo scoffed at X's naivety. "I am indeed loyal to our kind, and to Lord Sigma. The man spared me and took me under his wing. I cannot go against him for that!"

"Loyalty's a two way street, Armadillo. Sigma used to be one loyal to all his guys, but now he serves only himself." Said Zero. "Now here you are, using that undying loyalty to justify your actions!"

"I am doing what was asked and required. There is nothing Maverick about that, and the ends will always justify the means. The lives sacrificed would not have helped us if the positions were swapped." Armadillo continued, speaking without empathy.

"Murder of the innocent is never justification, Armadillo." Said Centipede, with as much apathy as the Maverick. "We fight to protect those that cannot protect themselves. That is the sworn oath of the Maverick Hunters, and you of all bots should realize this!" X was shocked how much sense Centipede was making, but maybe the magenta hunter's reasons were different from his even a bit.

"What I realize is that we were defending the wrong innocents. Now enough talk! I'm ready to carry out my oath!" Said Armadillo. The steel-plated Maverick got into a defensive attack formation. X's sensors began scanning the opponent as him and his coherts got in similar poses. X brandished his buster quickly, but his sensors began focusing already on Armadillo's wrist-mounted shields. The Blue Bomber barely had time to question as his scanners analyzed Armardillo rolling up into a ball and charging at them.

The trio were able to sidestep out of the initial barrage. However, Armadillo began bouncing all across the room. Centipede had little trouble predicting and dodging his movements, but X and Zero weren't as lucky. The two get hit a couple times and tossed against the granite by the time Armadillo ceased. Centipede jumped down and landed a kick right to Armadillo, but Sigma's newest right hand bot blocked it by putting his shields up.

X was slow to up, but Zero was already on his feet, his Z-Saber already prepped and ready to roll. No pun intended. The blonde-haired hunter rushed as Armadillo's back was turned. Zero struck at the back of the Maverick, but his saber hardly cracked Armadillo's tough-as-steel plating. This caught Armadillo's attention and turned to fight Zero. Zero swung trying to even put a dent in Armadillo's defense, but each swing the purple Maverick just shrugged off.

"Resorting to cheap shots, Zero? And here I thought you were a bot of honor…." Armadillo said. After a few parries, he grew tired of this game and threw one of his shields at Zero like a frisbee. While the A-Class Hunter dodged the first time, he was not as fortunate when it came back, knocking him dead in the stomach area and leaving a big scratch. Armadillo caught his shield and began whacking Zero before the Hunter could try getting up.

Magna Centipede quickly hit a swift kick to knock Armadillo off of his partner and superior. It was all needed, as X changed to Fire Form and used Hadouken. But not even that was able to make a dent through. Nothing they were doing was getting through. "Nana, remind me again what Armadillo's armored plating is made of?"

" _Armadillo's armoring is made of solid Silvatium, one of the rarest and most powerful metals on this Earth."_ Said Nana. _"According to my analysis, his armor is able to withstand many powerful blows and conditions, but an electrical charge can short it out, disrupting the particles to—"_

"All I needed to hear, Nana." X cut her off and he quickly swapped forms. He needed to act fast.

' _ELECTRIC FORM'_

X switched over to his Electric Form. This form was more yellow with white highlights and thunderbolt patterns on his armoring and minibolts coming from his audio receptors. He got into a brawlers fighting pose, almost like a less sturdy version of Spark Mandrill's. Armored Armadillo showed little fear, banging his wrist shields against each other as if to goad X into attacking.

X ran to attack the Maverick. The Maverick Hunter threw several punches with severe force behind each one. Armadillo predictably blocked each one that X gave, unimpressed by the Hunters supposed bravado. It looked as though X was wasting his energy trying this. However, Zero began noticing something up. It wasn't clear at first glance, but Armadillo's armor was beginning to crack. The Blue Bomber was letting loose electric energy in his punches, but no one realized it as it wasn't clear at first look.

"And by the way, Armadillo, you're the last bot to talk about honor!" shouted X, continuing to land his heavy punches. He began hitting them with more energy and force as he smashed his shields. Armadillo began to feel something wrong. The cracks on his shielding were becoming more and more clear, his armoring beginning to feel weaker. X took the moment to hit the final blow: "VOLT PUNCH!"

The Azure Hunter released a surge of powerful electric energy into his special technique. The punch landed hard, smashing right through Armadillo's shields and right into the gut. The draft from the attack caused not just the Maverick's shields to breaks, but also much of his armoring was completely destroyed. Armadillo looked around in shock and even peril. What he thought was a fruitless effort by the Maverick Hunter was actually a calculated assault topped off by an explosive finishing blow. For the first time in a while, Armadillo wasn't just defenseless, he was scared…

"Better give it up, Armadillo!" yelled Zero. "If you wanna leave these mines in one piece, you better tell us where Sigma is!" Armadillo couldn't answer. He was too petrified at what had happened to him. Centipede thought that 'persuasion' was in order, but was unable to carry it out… because X was already punching Armadillo. "Did you listen, Maverick?! Where is Sigma hiding?! TALK!" Zero and Centipede were shocked by X's sudden shift in tone, even the Navigators were surprised.

Armadillo, however, somehow felt a level of inferiority… and that enraged him. How dare this Maverick Hunter talk down to him? X was about to punch Armadillo again when the Maverick opened up the gem on his forehead, revealing a miniblaster that shot X right in the face, going him a couple feet and releasing him. "You dare speak to me like that?! I will not be talked down to!"

Magna Centipede disassembled his tail, and the blocks that comprised it charged at Armadillo, encircling him to attack. Armadillo began his rolling attack and was able to evade with ease, bouncing around the room. This time it was Zero that swiped at Armadillo and slashed away at him, making him take massive damage and falling flat on his face. X got up and used his Spark Pound, sending shockwaves across the ground that did more damage to the Maverick. Now Zero was beginning to worry. This wasn't like X at all. Usually X is trying to capture or wear down the Mavericks he fought before. But here, he looked like he was intent on _murdering them!_

"X, cool it! We still need him alive!" Zero shouted to his friend, hoping his words would reach him. Unfortunately, they didn't. " _You_ need him alive, Zero. But this planet doesn't!" X said, emotionless. "If we spare him, he'll just escape and cause more suffering! I'm not letting that happen!"

"Sigma's the bigger threat, X!" said Zero. "Armadillo's the only one that knows where Sigma is! We need him to find out where!" X wasn't having it. "We have five more Mavericks you can ask for that! Now stay out of my way!" However, this miscommunication was the chance Armadillo used to recuperate. When X turned back to finish, Armadillo used his forehead blaster on X and the surroundings. As the Hunters were blinded, Armadillo rolled up and dug a tunnel downwards to escape. Centipede jumped to try to stop him, but it was too late. X just growled in frustration.

" _ **DOWNLOAD COMPLETE. EARTH FORM, STEEL FORM, SHIELD FORM UNLOCKED. ROLLING SHIELD, MAGNA SHURIKEN, AND SPIN DASH OBTAINED."**_

Armadillo had been defeated and his abilities copied. But X was not satisfied. He hesitated again, in no small part thanks to Zero's unintentional intervention. Now Armadillo may put more lives in danger or assist in it. He looked back at his best friend with distaste. "I hope you're proud of yourself for that, Zero! Now Armored Armadillo can find more lives to ruin!" he yelled. Zero looked stoically back at his friend. "I'm not even proud at your sudden change in attitude, X! You can't just try killing any Maverick you see without thinking of the consequences! You're better than that!"

"That mentality caused Sigma to betray us in the first place! That isn't happening again, and you may wanna stay out of my way for a while, Zero!" argued X. Zero never got a chance to argue back because X teleported out before his friend could say another word. Zero sighed disappointed. "Centipede, I got a bad feeling about this…" he said.

"As do I." said Centipede, folding all four of his arms. "What if this is Sigma's grand scheme? To enrage X so badly that he unwittingly becomes a Maverick himself?" Zero shook his head, wanting to off those sentiments. "I don't want to believe that, my friend. It wouldn't add up. Why try to entice X to become a Maverick when he's proven to be someone no one can trust? And what is the sudden interest in X anyway? Something is off…."

"I know, and it's rather painful. But we have our own duty to perform." Said Centipede. "Another trail gone cold, but we need to find Sigma's location before X loses himself, and fast." Zero silently nodded. The back of his mind told him the reality of X being an enemy could be realer than before, but he also needed to focus on locating Sigma… before X became Maverick at all!

 **TO BE CONTINUED….**

* * *

 **(A/N: And that is it! Armadillo was one that was difficult to keep tabs on, but I feel happy with this, and had Zeke to help with some inconsistencies as well. Hopefully, the next chapter won't take as long, but with Christmas approaching, I can't make promises. Next time, we go under the sea for Launch Octopus! See ya then!)**


	9. Chapter 9: Dynamic Waters

**Maverick Hunter X – Next-Level Insurrection**

 **Chapter 9: Dynamic Waters**

 **(A/N: Hey folks! Happy Mega Man Day! New chapter of the anniversary of the classic and X series, funny how that works out eh? Anyway, this will be a very good chapter. Spent so much time and thought on this! Hope you enjoy this, and enjoy!)**

 **DISCLAIMER: It is heavily advised that this story be read with awesome Mega Man music playing in the background. I do not own any** ** _Mega Man X_** **related characters or themes. All characters from** ** _Mega Man_** **,** ** _Mega Man X_** **,** ** _Mega Man Zero_** **,** ** _Mega Man ZX_** **, and** ** _Mega Man Legends_** **are all owned by Capcom. Please support the official release!**

* * *

 **MAY 3, 2053**

 **17:04 – MAVERICK HUNTER HQ**

Three Mavericks had been defeated. Two of them were destroyed. The Hunters were happy with the progress made… except for X. He was anything but happy. While two Maverick chiefs had been taken down, Armored Armadillo had escaped. He managed to copy his powers, but he couldn't shake the awful feeling he could try hurting more people. He considered this a failure.

He spent the last couple hours training to vent his frustrations out and test his new abilities. Though satisfied by his new powers, his anger had not dissipated. Some Hunters passing by tried being cordial with X, but the B- class Hunter shrugged then off. Something was definitely off now.

As he ran into the control room, X noticed Nana hard at work, but still chatting up with Iris, who didn't seem to be taking her job seriously at all. "Hope you're laughing about something productive, Iris!" X said sharply. His presence and tone surprised both the girls. "Umm, yes. I-Is something wrong?" asked Iris.

"Sounded more like you were talking a bunch of girl stuff than tracking Mavericks!" X said sternly. Iris cringed and hastily resumed her work. Nana looked at X with a stern frown. X didn't like it when she was unhappy. He hoped to ask politely, but his way of asking was less than so. "Something wrong, Nana?" he asked, in a tense voice.

"I was about to ask you the same question, X." she said, calmly. "You've been acting aggressive ever since you got back from Azerbaijan." X clenched his fist as he began to speak. "Armadillo got away! I was so close, but Zero had to stop me right when I had him! Now he's bound to tell Sigma what we're doing and continue to destroy more cities!" X gritted his teeth. Nana was struggling not to lose her composure over X's unhappy state. Iris, however, stood up in anger. "Zero was trying to help! You were going too far—"

"I don't recall asking you!" yelled X, making Iris shiver back into her seat. Nana, once again, stayed calm but frowned deeper at X's tone. "X, you need to calm down! I know how you must feel, but this attitude isn't going to help anyone." X didn't answer her, just returning her frown in a tense silence. He quickly changed the subject just after. "Who do we go after next?" he asked, looking at the screen.

There were still five Mavericks left to defeat: Launch Octopus, Flame Mammoth, Boomer Kuwanger, Sting Chameleon, and Storm Eagle. He was trying to think this over rationally, but his artillery was getting stacked so he could take on any ideally. Flame Mammoth was a big one that could be cut down easy, but he was a heavy hitter and at times unpredictable. Same with Sting Chameleon, so those two were being saved for later. He thought Storm Eagle, but he didn't want to face his old friend quite yet. It still wasn't right to him.

Finally left with only two, and neither were easy. Launch Octopus was made for underwater use, and he could probably use his Electric Form to his benefit, but he knew nothing about fighting underwater and Octopus was extremely aggressive with his torpedoes. Boomer Kuwanger, meanwhile, was even harder. While he was relatively weak, the trick part was catching him, due to his unreal speed which can often be mistaken for teleportation. The minute he thought this, he realized that Octopus was the ideal way.

"If I could take down Launch Octopus and copy his abilities, some of the others will be easier to take care of." Said X. Nana still remained professional in speaking to X. "At least you haven't lost your strategic edge or focus…" she said. X ignored her smug comment and walked off, teleporting to meet Octopus. Once he left, her frown turned from unhappy to depressed. She was fortunate to keep it up for so long.

Nana didn't understand what was wrong. Why was X acting so aggressively all of a sudden? Did Sigma's manipulations cripple his mental state? Was he getting tired of everyone else doing little to help? Or maybe he was turning Maverick…? As much as she wanted to shrug that last thought off, she couldn't. Half of the Hunters they had had turned against humanity, including their former commander. Who was to say others wouldn't turn… even if they didn't realize it?

"X…" she whispered. "Please don't lose yourself… we need you…."

* * *

 **17:10 – AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS**

X had just landed on what seemed like a reef or shoreline, as he got to quick work dispatching the Mavericks in the area, particularly the Mega Tortoises and their rockets. X took care of them easily, and looked at the target below: the ruins of Amsterdam underneath the sea. The supposed reefs were actually just some old buildings floating up.

The Netherlands were one of the biggest casualties of World War 3. For centuries, the Dutch had been involved in land reclamation and plans to expand it beyond so in the late 2010's and early 2020's. However, the war put a major damper on that. The nuclear damage and casualties from the country and its geographic location caused the dams to break, the water levels to rise, and the entire country was now at least 6 feet underwater. No one survived, and the world did not even realize the damage until 2046.

X surveyed the underwater surroundings with not just nervousness, but also sorrow. His first underwater mission was on the remains of a once beautiful city, and in the gravesite of many innocent people. He placed his hands up to his comms and spoke to Nana. "X to base. I've reached the former site of Amsterdam. But it's… unsettling to be here."

" _Yes, it is."_ Said Nana, softly. _"It's not easy having to do your job over the resting place of others. But you have to focus. If Sigma wins, what happened to this city may happen to the rest of the world."_ X felt his spirit lifted, if only slightly. "You're right, Nana. This is no time to stand on ceremony. I'm heading down!" Without hesitation, X cut his call and dash jumped into the ocean, and into the ruined city.

X looked around his surroundings, seeing the submerged 'Venice of the North' looking worse for wear. The decades of being sunk left many buildings fallen apart or corroding, with places for the fish and sea creatures to stay. He found a noticable amount of unfriendly aquatic Mechaniloids swimming about. X chose to leave the smaller ones alone, but fire on the larger ones should they pose a threat.

" _X, Jet Stingray and his platoon have been detected at Point 3845! They're engaging Octopus's forces right now!"_ reported Nana. "Copy that. Better get over there before they steal my kill!" Nana was less than thrilled at X's wording of his intents. Iris began her report on the target: _"Launch Octopus, S-Class Hunter from the Naval Squad. He is a master of underwater combat and fancies himself an artiste, but seemed to harbor some kind of contempt for the humans. Reports indicate that he betrayed his best friend, Squid Adler, and joined Sigma once the chance presented itself."_

"Of course he would, but why come to Amsterdam?" X asked. _"It seems Sigma is looking for something and doesn't want us finding it. Though what it is is beyond our database."_ Said Iris. X rolled his eyes. He had no idea what he was looking for. Lot of help she was. "This is why you'rean intern, Iris." He said, with brutal honesty.

Colonel Patton's sister said nothing, just sulking a bit lower. Nana was trying not to get angry at X's rude comments. She ultimately said nothing as X began dashing across the sea. It didn't take him long to find some of Repliforce locked in combat with the Mechaniloids working for Octopus. X wasn't letting them get ahead of him, and rushed quickly into battle. But just as soon as he rushed, he found himself confronted by an orange Anglerge, a big angler-like Mechaniloid.

"Back off, Maverick! I don't have time for you!" X yelled, raising his buster to shoot. The Mechaniloid shot homing harpoons from it's sides, which X blasted at with ease. X quickly changed things up.

 _'STEEL FORM'_

The Blue Bomber changed to a new titanium colored form in Steel Form. This armor was more steel and looked more square than some of the other forms he had used, but had slick armor to boot. As the Anglerge prepared to attack again, X quickly hit a Magna Shuriken which pierced through the Mechaniloid's major systems. He quickly followed up with a hard thrust kick which put it out of commission for good. With this for out, X swam to join the fight.

"Hold the line, men! We cannot let Sigma get his hands on the experimental Reploid Elpizo reported about!" shouted a yellow and blue stingray Reploid to his troops. This was Jet Stingray, commander of Repliforce's Navy branch. But X wasn't interested in anything Stingray was talking about when he reached the scene. All that mattered to him was that Mavericks were in his way and he had to kill them!

The Azure Hunter dashed through the warzone in a furious hurry. He completely ignored the sounds and signs from Repliforce and began shooting at every enemy unit he saw. He refused to hesitate as he dashed through and dropkicked several aquatic enemies. This was when he changed over to Electric Form, clobbering the opposition. He jumped down to the ocean floor and hit a Spark Pound, causing electrical charges to run through the floor and the ruins and take down every Reploid in sight… even the friendly ones in Repliforce!

"ANYONE ELSE WANT SOME?!" X shouted to the little opposition left. The few remaining were quick to retreat away from the enraged Maverick Hunter. Jet Stingray was not happy and swam to air his grievances. "X, what the hell was that just now?" he asked.

"That was me getting results, and destroying the Mavericks! Something the military doesn't seem to do good at!" X snapped at Stingray. The aquatic commander was not having any of it. "I'd watch that tone of yours, X! My soldiers are the finest and most adequate warriors you will ever find! I've been told of your recent outbursts and attitude, but it's worse up close."

"You better watch it, Stingray! I'm sending that traitor, Octopus, straight to the junkheap, and you better not get in my way!" X shouted. Before their argument could escalate, they could hear screams from a few feet from them. There were bombs dropping down onto them! _"X, there's an enemy battleship directly above you! Use a propeller system nearby to get up and take it out!"_ shouted Nana. X rolled his eyes and swam up, using the propeller system to get a jump upwards.

X landed on a green whale-like battleship and kicked up at every Maverick on board, and shooting at the cannons it had. He quickly changed over to Fire Form, leaped up into the air and performed a massive Blaze Kick, piercing through the ship and its engines, sending it careening into the sea below. X changed back to his normal form as soon as he returned to underwater. Stingray swam over to X and glared, still not forgetting their confrontation a minute ago. "You're welcome." X said.

"You… did well, X. I owe you my gratitude." Said Stingray. "My men and I can handle things here. You go take care of Launch Octopus!" X nodded and the two saluted each other before X dashed off to find Octopus. As he took down any opposition, he found a giant red eel Mechaniloid locked in combat with another hunter, a white and blue colored squid-like Reploid, with peculiar tentacles on his back. It was Squid Adler, and he was looking awful. "Adler, hang on!" X shouted.

Squid Adler turned to face X. He was happy to see someone he could trust. Adler's damage was severe; he still hadn't recovered physically nor mentally after being betrayed by one he thought he could call a brother. Now the Utuboros was going to chew him to shreds. X wasted little time, dash-jumping onto the Maverick's head and hitting a well-placed charged buster shot. The Mechaniloid was completely annihilated, almost instantly. X ran over to Adler once he was done. "Adler, you're hurt!" he said.

"It… it's nothing, X…" Adler bluffed, holding his rib area. X could tell he was not fine. His armor was completely cracked and damaged extremely. Electricity was coming out more than normal. X knew he wouldn't hold out long. He made a necessary decision; X gave Adler one of the Sub Tanks from his belt and gave it to Adler. "Here, Adler. Drink this and you'll heal right up." He said.

"No, X… you need it!" Adler protested. "Octopus is relentless and unyielding, you will need every bit of energy you have to defeat him. Save it for yourself!" X insisted though. "I don't need it as much as you do, my friend. I'm not letting you die out here! Take it!" Adler was surprised at X's aggressive generosity. Such kindness and charity was hard to find these days, and X was taking a massive gamble by doing this. Squid Adler slowly relented, opening up and drinking up the Subtank. He felt his energy being restored almost instantaneously. "Thank you, X…"

X smiled as he took the empty Subtank. Then got back up and changed his tone to something straight-laced. "Head back to Hunter Base and rest! I'll handle the rest." He said. Adler smiled a bit from under his mask and got up. "Good luck, X!" he said as he teleported off. Satisfied, X dashed off and eventually came across a shutter. X ran through and stared down at Octopus, who seemed none too happy, especially with what was promised to him…

* * *

 _ **FLASHBACK**_

 _The days after Sky Lagoon were hardly easy for anyone. Not any easier were the rise in Maverick sightings. Even the underwater was not safe from attacks. Launch Octopus and Squid Adler were having their hands full with the increasingly frequent undersea attacks by out of control Mavericks. But this one, they knew all too well._

 _Bubble Crab. A diminutive red crab-like Reploid with green energy claws on his shoulders was a traitor to the Hunters, in a manner of speaking. After a few years in the job, Sigma discharged Crab when it was discovered he was smuggling treasures from the 2010's and 2020's, and selling them off on the black market. He'd been off the radar since… until now._

 _Adler and Octopus wondered why he would suddenly resurface now after being missing for several months. It didn't seem right, but they had little time to worry about that. Now they were going to take him in. He was found by Tokyo Bay and was giving them quite the chase. "Give it up, Crabby!" shouted Adler. "We got you and we're taking you in, one way or the other!"_

" _That's what you think! I'm getting the biggest score of the century, and I ain't letting you punks stop me!" yelled Crab. Charging forward, Crab activated his shoulder claws. However, Adler shot an electric beam and Octopus unleashed a volley of torpedoes. The result was a massive explosion which knocked Crab down. "What a dreadful Reploid…" lamented Octopus, condescendingly._

 _Squid Adler took the time to cuff Bubble Crab up and they prepared to depart. When they reached the surface, the two found themselves meeting commander Sigma, standing in front of a heavily burned docks. "Commander, we got Bubble Crab. Wait...what happened here?!" asked Adler._

" _What happened was justice, Squid Adler." Said Sigma. "Justice for our kind, against the wretched filth of humanity." The two were surprised by their superior's shift in tone, Octopus getting interested in what Sigma had to say while Adler was… unnerved. He hadn't seen Sigma talk or act like this before. "Commander, I don't understand. Where is this coming from?" he asked._

" _Launch Octopus. Squid Adler. For many years, I thought we were in control of our own destiny. That we were doing the right thing and keeping the right people safe. But deep down, I knew we weren't. We're just puppets on a string, used to the humans every whim. When we try breaking free, they've responded by breaking us. But now, I am intent to succeed in cutting these strings! And I want both of you to help me…"_

" _Commander. I must confess something…. I never liked these humans." Said Octopus. Adler was taken aback. He never heard Octopus sound so venomous. "These humans are weak cowards. We give them protection because they cannot protect themselves. I master the art of underwater combat, like a true artiste. And yet what do I get in return? Nothing. Not even so much as a good thank you from these swine!"_

" _Octopus, what's gotten into you?! Am I the only one that sees the problem here?" Adler asked incredulously. Bubble Crab only chuckled at this. "We must control our own destiny, Squid Adler. That is why I recruited Crab back to the frey. In spite of his avarice, he knows what I say is true, and why we must fight back. Soon, the humans would just toss you aside like yesterday's trash." Said Sigma. "If we do not fight back, then no one else will! I hope you can understand this, my friend…"_

" _All I understand is that all of you have gone mad!" shouted Squid Adler. "This is the language of a Maverick! I can't support this, Commander! I will take all of you in, no matter the cost!" Squid Adler powered up his stingers and prepared to strike. "Oh. So unwise…"_

 _The moments after hearing Octopus saying this, Adler felt Bubble Crab free himself and launch a shoulder claws into his side. Before Adler could respond at all, Octopus launched a volley of pirahna-shaped missiles and Homing Torpedoes at his former comrades, causing a big explosion and Adler to scream in agony. Squid Adler was heavily damaged and fell off the docks and into the sea, but not before whispering, "O-Octopus…. Why…?"_

 _Launch Octopus smirked, happy at his handiwork, then bowed to his commander, along with Crab. "I live to serve you… my commander. My lord…" he said. Sigma smiled, though was solumnly bitter at not being able to enlist Adler. Not that it could be helped. "You two will be of great help to create our new world! Thank you…" Sigma and his two subordinates chuckled._

 _ **END FLASHBACK**_

* * *

"Well well, you finally arrived." Octopus said condescendingly. "I suppose you really are out to off us all like the uncivilized brute you are, eh X?" The Maverick Hunter kept his glare at the handless traitor, gritting his metal teeth. "Launch Octopus, you disgust me!" X shouted. "How could you turn on your friends? On your brothers?!"

"Brothers? Now isn't that cute? Like we're some sort of happy family…" Octopus chuckled. "Don't make me laugh. Me and my comrades were never truly close. Squid Adler was just someone that I could use to further my career. He meant nothing to me. He never even tried to confide in me about my hatred for these humans. They don't see the true art of underwater combat that I master. No one does…"

"Because you only look after yourself! Using others to further your own goals, that's truly pathetic!" X screamed, drawing his buster. "Someone so selfish doesn't deserve to call himself a Reploid or Hunter! That's why you're going to die!" X was determined as his optics began scanning Octopus. The eight-legged Maverick laughed. "Such a kidster, X! You won't be talking so much once I bury you in this ruined city!"

With little warning, Launch Octopus fired off a swarm of five Homing Torpedoes at X. The Azure Hunter's scanners analyzed the missiles as he jumped away to try evading. Unfortunately, true to it's name, the missiles turned around to home in on him. X charged his buster and fired a buster shot at them, destroying them. "Not bad, X. Now let's see you counter THESE!" shouted Octopus, firing off another round. X was not so quick to evading this time, getting hit before he had a chance to counter.

Octopus decided to keep the pressure on, releasing more torpedoes at X. The Blue Bomber very quickly changed it up, switching to a brand new form. It was time to go on the defensive for now….

' _SHIELD FORM'_

The rockets hit X just as he changed his form. Emerging from the smoke, X was virtually unscathed with his new armor. The form was mostly chrome silver in color, and had shieldings on his legs and forearms. X was currently holding one of Armadillo's shields and in defensive mode. Octopus fired more of his torpedoes, but X held up his shields. In addition to the physical shield, a blue energy surrounded the edges to add extra defense. X was barely fazed by any of it.

The Aquatic Maverick chose to up the ante. He shot out his pirahna missiles at X, who awaited the projectiles, still not moving. He was expecting his scanners to begin analyzing the attack, but to his confusion they weren't. It ended up being the least of his problems as the missiles were more powerful than the Homing Torpedoes, sending X flinging into a bank and landing in a vault. All he could do was lay injured and helpless in a literal sea of money that was no doubt obsolete by today's standards.

" _X, watch out! Homing Torpedoes coming in hot!"_ shouted Nana. X got back up in an annoyed way and blasted. Then, using his shields, he sent an energy-based version that took down the other projectiles. But even more came down, X had to try outrunning them to get out of the trap he was in. The Blue Bomber dashed all he could, but eventually the torpedoes caught him against a pillar, sending the building crashing on him.

Several minutes passed. Launch Octopus was smart enough to know that X was not going to go down by something that pathetic. He approached the rubble slowly, readying himself for when X came out. Just as soon as that, X jumped out of the rubble and fired electric shots at him, now in is Electric Form. The minute he was out of range he used one of his subtanks to heal up. He only had two left so he needed to be conservative. Unfortunately, Octopus wasn't giving him many options at this point.

Launch Octopus threw every missile he could at X, with the latter being forced to counter or try to gain distance. While easy to run around an abandoned city, X's lack of aquatic combat was not helping him in trying to outchase the torpedoes. The projectiles keep catching up, forcing X out of his Electric Form and back to his normal state. The damage was getting severe. He reached for another Subtank, but Octopus launched more missiles at him. X was not getting a chance to heal up and he was doing to get thrashed soon.

" _X, fall back! You can't beat Octopus in this state!"_ shouted Nana. X tried standing up in defiance, but only got to one leg. "No! I already let Armadillo escape, I won't let him go…either!" X was not going to be deterred from his mission, but he was going to die soon. Unrelenting, the Hunter got up and charged at Octopus, but the Maverick just shot him point blank, flinging X back.

"Your style is too predictable, too droll. It's pathetic, really..." Octopus said. "I know I was ordered to bring you in alive… but it would be a waste to do so. Good bye, X…" Octopus readied one final shot to kill X, the Azure Hunter bracing for the worst, when suddenly, several buster shots separated the two, many of them hurting Octopus and staggering him. "What the? Who dares?!" he asked. He turned around and found his answer.

Both Octopus and X looked over to seeing a stranger leaning against a lamppost, casually tapping his buster onto his left arm. The Reploid had cyan hair that went a bit past the shoulders, and was mostly dark blue or dark purple in body armor, with yellow highlights and a gold and silver belt around his waist, almost like a cowboy. His helmet also seemed shaped like a cavalry with green gems on slants meant to simulate a cowboy hat, and had a red transparent visor over his eyes. X was perplexed as to what this guy was doing out here, and interfering in his business. He didn't look like a Maverick Hunter, nor did he have any Repliforce insignia on him.

The stranger approached the battlefield, slowly and as casual as football fan at a bar. "Been seeing a lot of new faces around here. Hear they been lookin' for me. You impressed, freakazoid?" he asked. Octopus was not. " _You_ are the prototype I was told about? What a rude and unpleasant fellow you are! I hardly see what kind of use you would be to my master…"

"I'd be plenty use, bro. But I doubt he would be, seeing as how he's too shy to show his face around here." The stranger replied, retracting his buster and putting his hands on his hips in a casual stance. "Anyway, I don't think I'd enjoy his company if you're anything to go by…"

"I don't like your attitude! Perhaps this will bring you down a peg!" Octopus yelled out as he unleashed several missiles and torpedoes. The purple stranger just sighed, bringing out his buster again and casually but accurately shooting all of them down with blue energy shots, making them explode. The Reploid continued his walk as Octopus launched some more at him. This time, the stranger sidestepped as he continued his strut. The projectiles kept their course on their target, but the stranger—without even looking—shot them all down with blue shots nonetheless.

Octopus and X were stunned. This stranger was so calm and unhinged in his demeanor, it felt different from all the other Reploids they had seen before. "And you call big blue's style droll? You're putting me to sleep with all these fireworks!" he complained. "Gimme a real challenge, princess, and maybe I'll start trying!"

"Oh you want something new? Then how about THIS?!" Launch Octopus jumped and sun into the air, creating a vertical mini-typhoon. X's scanners analyzed this move, as he and the stranger found themselves getting pulled in or getting hit by the currents. Despite this, the stranger didn't really flinch. In fact, he pulled out the handle to a double-edged beam sword, but only one side activated.

The beam was in a red color and the stranger swam up into the current, which was taking a bit of his energy along with it, and then slashed at Octopus's tentacles, severing two of them as he careened down to the ocean floor. X was in shock of what was happening. Not only did this stranger act so calm in his demeanor of countering all of Octopus's attacks, but he was able to send the Maverick reeling! He was actually getting a little annoyed at how he was stealing his thunder.

The girls at Hunter Base were just as stunned. They were picking up an unknown Reploid energy signature, but they were completely stunned seeing and hearing what was happening. Who was this guy, and where did he even come from? And was he even a friend or someone they could trust?

Launch Octopus tried gaining distance by firing a dozen missiles, but the stranger pilled out his buster and fired. This time, however, his buster shots were colored red and were far more powerful than before. The Reploid charged through the dust and slashed away precisely, slicing off all his arms and laving a massive slash scar into his chest. Octopus could only scream in pain as the stranger charged up his buster, then pounded it into the ground. Laser beams rose up in the area around the stranger, completely incinerating Octopus, who could only scream in agony.

The stranger got up, retracted his buster and struck a cool, casual pose. "Now that's… checkmate." He said, and snapped his fingers, pointing his index to nothing in particular. The minute he snapped, Octopus exploded behind him. X's jaw was agape. He could not believe what he just saw.

" _ **DOWNLOAD COMPLETE. WATER FORM UNLOCKED. HOMING TORPEDO AND MARINE TORNADO OBTAINED."**_

X took a whiff of a Subtank as he heard his systems make the announcement. He was glad to get the abilities, but he was fuming at how he got them. X didn't kill Octopus like he was meant to; it was this new guy! He stole X's kill and was strutting off like nothing happened. No way was X letting this slide!

" _X, you saw that right?"_ Nana asked. _"An unknown Reploid appeared on our scanners not too long ago and destroyed Octopus. I don't have any data on him! What happened just now, X?!"_

"I don't know, Nana… but I'm gonna find out." X said with venom in his voice, as he dashed off to the departing stranger. Because the man wasn't walking fast, it was easy for him to catch up. X grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him around. "Hey buddy! Who do you think you are?!" he shouted. "You've got some nerve interfering in Maverick Hunter business and stealing my hit!"

"Whoa whoa, ease up dude." The stranger said cooly. "I'm just you're regular passing-through wild card. No need to get physical, 'specially since you ain't my type."

"I don't care who you are, you got questions to answer back at base! Nana, I'm bringing him in! Don't be too nice, we don't know if we can trust him!" X said.

"Right back at ya." Said the stranger. "So what do I call ya, Big Blue?" He seemed genuinely wanting to be polite to X, but the Hunter was not letting his guard down right now.

"My name is X, a Maverick Hunter! Now before I teleport out and bring you in for interrogation, who are you?!" X said. The stranger flicked his hair as he was handcuffed and teleported off back to Hunter Base. When they returned and he was taken by security, he pushed a switch on his helmet, which retracted his lens visor.

"Call me…. Dynamo."

* * *

 **17:45 – PROFESSOR RIMMER'S ESTATE – FULHAM, LONDON**

Professor Kristine Rimmer was enjoying a nice evening to herself among the chaos. She was unsurprised to learn of Sigma's rebellion against mankind. In fact, she felt fully responsible for it. Rimmer wanted Sigma to try to have as much hope in humanity as he could, hoping his honor and conscious would win over. Alas, it was not to be. She's been more surprised how Sigma hasn't attempted to attack her yet. Maybe he _does_ have some sort of goodness left…

The good doctor was eating her dinner when she received a sort of call from Hunter HQ. She went over to her computer to answer. Nana was the one to call and appear on the screen. _"Good evening, Professor Rimmer. I see you're still doing well for yourself."_ She said.

"Ah, Nana. Always a pleasure to see you, dear." Said the Professor. "You Hunters must be being kept busy in the last few days. What is the status of your progress?"

" _It's been about fifty-fifty, ma'am."_ Said Nana. _"We've been managing to keep casualties as low as possible and defeating several of Sigma's prime commanders, but progress still hasn't been swell. We haven't been able to locate his base of operations quite yet. I fear this conflict is bringing out the worst of us…"_

"I would not worry too much. This is all a day's work for the Maverick Hunters. Speaking of which… how's your boyfriend?" Professor Rimmer always thought X and Nana were designed for one another, and would usually tease the two. Normally, Nana would go into a hot red tirade and deny any interest. But not this time. Nana kept her stoic persona, but wore a mask of deep concern as well. _"Actually, Professor… I called you for that reason."_

Rimmer ceased her teasing instantly. She knew something was wrong if Nana was not going to try refuting her claims. "What's happened? Is X okay?" she asked, concerned. _"Physically speaking, yes. But since Sigma's betrayal, he's gotten more… emotional. He's been more aggressive and focused, and has lashed out at anyone that looks at him the wrong way. I called to ask if you knew anything about this?"_

Rimmer sighed. Now she felt more guilty than before. Now it wasn't just humanity that triggered Sigma; it was X. She told him everything about X, and knew exactly what he planned to do. "I was afraid of this. X is slowly growing into what I feared… an emotion-driven killing machine. Nana, I want you to listen long and carefully about what I am about to tell you." Nana nodded, she wanted to know anything and everything wrong with X, and was willing to do everything for him.

"X, my greatest work… He was made with such limitless potential as a warrior and as a species. He thinks and feels more deeply than any of you. It's why you see him hesitate or lash out, because he cares… But it's also a great danger. I forewarned Sigma about this when he was still your commander, that if X were to be completely and negatively overwhelmed by his emotions, there is no telling what could happen…

"My greatest fear is that he could not only be the world's protector, but also his destroyer. Sigma's plan appears to be drive X to the point of anger, despair, and sadness, a point of no return where X could be the ultimate Maverick. He could be a greater danger than Sigma could ever dream of. I fear it is my fault for disclosing everything about my son to Sigma, because now, if what you say is true…"

Professor Rimmer looked at the screen. Nana was interested but horrified by her story. She didn't want to think it, but the reality was becoming more grim. X's attitude has been nasty ever since the missile strikes. It's what she and the others feared: Sigma's true goal wasn't just to destroy humankind, it was to corrupt X.

Nana shook off the tears that were beginning to form. _"I…I understand, Professor."_ She said. _"We have to keep X away from that goal. Me and Iris will try to lighten him up a bit or get him on the right path. I want to help X, more than anything… I'm glad you could help!"_

"Always. I wish you good luck, but be warned that it could be too late. In which case…" Rimmer stopped herself before she coud finish and immediately changed the topic to sign off. "Whatever you do. Protect X. Make sure he cannot do more harm than good, please…" Nana nodded and signed off. Rimmer returned to her dinner, but more worried than ever that she might have caused a bigger problem….

"What have I done…?"

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

 **(A/N: PHEW! I know I say this a lot, but this was exhausting! I spent a month on this, and work has not been too kind on me. Now normally I start the next chapter as soon as I publish the last one. However, this time, I will have to wait about a week. I'll wait for Christmas time to be over before starting work on Boomer Kuwanger, and hoo boy, are you not gonna wanna miss that! I hope you guys liked it! Please remember to review and share this, and have a happy holidays! See you in the new year!)**


	10. Chapter 10: Ascending to Darkness

**Maverick Hunter X – Next-Level Insurrection**

 **Chapter 10: Ascending to Darkness**

 **(A/N: Hey folks, happy new year and happy one-year anniversary to this story! This one took longer for me to do, but I'm proud how it came out once more. I must preface with a warning, however: this chapter is going to have references to real-life events that some readers may find offensive or unsettling. If you are among the types that would get offended by these references, then I advise you skip ahead or not read. Thank you and enjoy!)**

 **DISCLAIMER: It is heavily advised that this story be read with awesome Mega Man music playing in the background. I do not own any** ** _Mega Man X_** **related characters or themes. All characters from** ** _Mega Man_** **,** ** _Mega Man X_** **,** ** _Mega Man Zero_** **,** ** _Mega Man ZX_** **, and** ** _Mega Man Legends_** **are all owned by Capcom. Please support the official release!**

* * *

 **MAY 3, 2053**

 **19:15 – MAVERICK HUNTER HQ**

About an hour had passed since taking Dynamo in for questioning. X was keeping a close eye during his "interrogation" in the other room. The mysterious Reploid had just an hour ago shown up and beat Launch Octopus like it was nothing. X was struggling with the Maverick himself, yet this guy just stole his kill without breaking a sweat. He was annoyed but intrigued.

Unfortunately, the Hunters weren't getting much of anything from him. Dynamo was speaking very little, had his legs folded onto the table, and seemed to be taking it less of an interrogation and more of a friendly gathering or relaxation time. X was getting impatient. His frustrations with the conflict were bad enough for him, but now he was truly having to restrain every bit of himself to not charge right in there and start beating some sense into the new guy.

"Look, dude. I told ya already…" said Dynamo. "I don't know nothin' about a Sigma, Mavericks, or whatever the hell you're sayin'. I just woke up one day, few years back, and I been roaming the submerged town doing whatever comes to mind. So you can quit the hostilities, pal." Mac, a purple Maverick Hunter with a visor lens for optics, didn't seem too convinced. "Much as a cool guy you seem, Dynamo, I have my orders. I am to remain here and keeping a close eye on you. Even if what you say's true, we don't wanna take any big risks."

Dynamo shrugged and laid back on the chair, looking bored. X got annoyed, but walked off from the scene. He wasted enough time on this, he needed to get back to business. X walked right into the control room, where Nana and Iris were still high at work, but Iris jumped at the sight of X. She still hasn't gotten over X snapping at her before. Nana, as usual, tried maintaining a professional face as she turned to X. But inside, she was hurting. She knew from Professor Rimmer that X was on the verge of going Maverick, and each mission during this conflict has changed him for the worst. Little by little draining his humanity, she had to do something fast.

"Four down, four to go…" X said, thinking of who to fight next. He felt he had some time. If he planned well, he could finish the remaining four in quick succession. Kuwanger was the closest, occupying The Shard in London. He was well equipped to the task, so he would be next. After that was tricky. Storm Eagle would be difficult, since he can be unpredictable and has the proverbial high ground. Flame Mammoth didn't seem too bad, and he just unlocked Water Form. However, his large figure may provide issues and X didn't know what else the big guy had up his trunk. Thus that just left Sting Chameleon, who was hiding in South America. Then X chose to map out Storm Eagle immediately after, then Flame Mammoth.

Now that he had a plan on how to go about it, it was time for X to mobilize. He began to walk out, but Nana called out to him. "X! I think it's best you rest a bit. You've been on edge all day…" she said. She knew the kinds of dangers this could pose. If X kept fighting at the rate he was going, the chances of him going Maverick would become more and more inevitable. She had to stall him any way she could.

X, on the other hand, was having none of this. Rest up at a time like this? Any small amount of time wasted could mean disastrous consequences and more civilians in danger! That was something he couldn't allow! "….are you questioning my judgment, Nana?" he asked coldly.

"No, X. I'm questioning your sanity." She said stern but concerned. "You've been acting awful since this rebellion began. Your mental health seems to be deteriorating too quickly. I must advise you let Cinnamon take a look at you before you do anything crazy." X turned to her with a stern look. "I don't have time to waste with you or our little nurse when people are dying out there! I'm going after Kuwanger at The Shard, then Chameleon and the others afterwards, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

"Listen to yourself, X! You're starting to sound no different than a Maverick! Now please, just settle down and let Cinnamon run diagnosti—" Nana was unable to finish her plea. X was getting very irritated and punched her in the chin, sending her a few feet across the room. Nana sat up and rubbed her chin, hurt a bit, but was more shocked and afraid than hurt.

Actually, she was hurt. But most of the pain was emotional than physical. She was afraid to really believe or think it would happen, but knew it was a possibility. X's action just now cemented it: his status as a Maverick was drawing close, and it hurt her. She looked up, looking scared. X turned over to Iris. "Anyone else have a problem with me and my judgment?" he asked. Iris was terrified now. She said absolutely nothing, just typing in something at a hurried pace. "That's what I thought."

X was done wasting time. He rushed straight through into the Ride Chaser bay, activated his bike, and rode off into the night. Nana struggled to get up. The physical pain was next to zero. But the emotional scars were harsh. X had just attacked her, and now it was clear she was to either stay in line for him, or be a victim of him. Sigma's goal was working all too well. The Maverick Hunter X was quickly becoming Maverick X.'

"Damn you, Sigma…" she said, shedding a couple tears. "DAMN YOU TO HELL!" Iris walked over and hugged her. She cried too. The two were fighting emotions this whole endeavor. Much like X, they had been driven over the edge and couldn't take it. Their pain had only just begun…

* * *

 **20:25 – THE SHARD – SOUTHWARK, LONDON**

Riding on his signature blue Ride Chaser across the panicking streets of London, X was deadset on ending Sigma and his fanatics for good. He needed to be quick, innocents were dying even as we spoke. X put his bike into turbo velocity, quickening the pace. Very soon, he was near England's tallest building, but it was not how it once was.

The Shard building was once a beacon of British hope and pride. But ever since Sigma began his rebellion, it has been used as a fortress of fear. Boomer Kuwanger had taken over the building and converted it into a fortified pyramid of Doom, complete with heavy defenses, inside and out. As X came closer to the building, several defensive turrets and guards came into view. Getting in would not be easy.

The minute X was in clear view of the Mavericks, they set up a defensive perimeter. The turrets and snipers opened fire onto the Maverick Hunter. The Blue Bomber didn't slow down one bit. Instead, he increased his speed, barely moving his chaser as he closed into the tower. X used his Chaser's weapons to return fire, blasting several guards and destroying two turrets. His vehicle closed in on his destination when he decided to leap it off a nearby ramp, ramming it through the defenses and into the building's 7th floor.

" _Come in, X! Do you read me?"_ he heard a weak but professional voice say. X rolled his eyes, knowing who it was. "What is it now, Nana?"

" _I'm going to help you, any way I can. Even if I disagree with your methods or mental state, I know you have your reasons. So I'll guide you best I can."_ Said Nana. X chuckled a little bit at her dedication. "Glad to hear it. Kuwanger is a ways up. Do you know how high he is?" he asked. _"Our sensors have detected two major Reploid readings on the 72_ _nd_ _floor. Odds are that Kuwanger is one of them."_ She said. "So 80 floors up. I don't have much time, so better get moving!"

" _Boomer Kuwanger. SA-Rank Hunter from the—"_ Iris timidly began her report, but was cut off. "I KNOW WHO I'M DEALING WITH HERE!" X screamed over the intercom. Iris flinched and cowered underneath the desk. Now she was really afraid of X. _"Iris is trying to help, X! She doesn't know our former friends like you and I do!"_ Nana said, slightly raising her voice. X just ignored her and continued across the building, dealing with the guards on the next two floors, jumping from floor to floor.

Hoganmers and Disk Boys went on the frontlines to play defensive purposes. X switched it up and went to Electric Form for a more straight method. The Disk Boys threw their disks at the Azure Hunter, who just flicked them away effortlessly. X jumped up, which gave a Hoganmer an opening to attack, but X followed through with a Spark Pound. The result shorted out all the Mavericks on the floor. "This is too easy." X grinned

" _Don't underestimate the defenses yet, X! I'm getting readings of high level Mechaniloid Mavericks on the floors above you!"_ Nana advised. It wasn't long after that X felt some rumblings from upstairs. He quickly clung up the elevators to get up and saw missiles headed for him. He returned to normal form and dealt with them using a charged shot. X quickly kept climbing up, until he reached the 30th floor.

" _Mega Tortoise units and laser security systems on this floor, X. Proceed with caution!"_ Nana warned him. "I don't have time for caution right now, Nana!" X yelled, dashing through. Nana wanted to scream at the Hunter right now. How could she navigate with someone who was being impossible to work with, and sounded like someone on substance abuse. All she did was pout and cross her arms, almost cutely. Iris seemed to crack a smile at Nana's reaction.

X dashed ahead and shot several buster pallets at the Mega Tortoises, which did significant damage. The Mavericks didn't take it well, firing off missiles at him. The Blue Bomber changed up to Shield Form, blocking the slow projectiles. Rushing through, he jumped up and used a Rolling Shield to crush one, then threw an energy based one at another. X kept the form as he dashed through, ignoring the red security lasers he tripped up, which resulted in him getting shot at by small turrets.

" _I hate to say I told you so, but…"_ Nana said, almost teasingly. "Oh _now_ you decide to chime in, just to mock me?!" X snapped as he ran through, still not caring about the security as he climbed up. _"I told you from the start, but someone isn't listening."_ X was getting quickly tired of her commentary. "Maybe start helping a bit more and we wouldn't have this conversation!"

" _Fine! There's a nearby elevator that can take you up to the 68_ _th_ _floor, but heavy resistance will be a guarantee, so be careful. Satisfied?"_ Nana asked, in a semi annoyed tone. "Extremely." Said X, running to the elevator and dropkicking the guards. He changed back to normal and pressed commands to take him up. X crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently as he awaited his destination. Nana began getting irritated yet increasingly worried with X's attitude. It was getting worse as the mission proceeded, and all she could do was adapt to it.

As he was almost up, he heard Nana ring in his ear. _"X, I'm getting at least a dozen Maverick readings right in front of the 68_ _th_ _floor's elevator door. Kuwanger must have been monitoring you this whole time."_ Nana warned. "Thanks for the late warning. I'm almost there, but I think I have an idea how to deal with it…" X said, irritated. If Nana weren't so disrespectful to him, he could swear she was just Alia in disguise.

The elevator reached it's destination. As Nana anticipated, a large group of Maverick Mechaniloids stood before the elevator door, ready to ambush X and take him out. However, as the doors opened, there was no one inside. Several Hoganmers looked puzzled and slowly stepped in to look around. There seemed to be no one in sight. That was where X jumped down, hiding on the roof of the elevator, and hit a Blaze Kick that trashed half of the troops.

' _WATER FORM'_

X very swiftly changed to his new form. The color was dark blue, with ocean and water decals all around, and a wave like shape on the edges of his helmet. The oncoming enemies were swiftly dispatched with Marine Tornado, an attack in which a whirlpool surrounded him, giving him small movement, and then at a release arm motion, released the whirlpool, wiping out all opposition.

"A more efficient way of dealing with these pests!" shouted X. He continued onwards, running upstairs as he found turrets placed in inconvenient places. Using Homing Torpedoes, he took care of them with little trouble, then finally reached the top floor, which had seemingly turned into a large computer room. At the center was Boomer Kuwanger, facing off another Reploid; it was a blue rhinoceros beetle Reploid with sharp clear shards on his horn. This was his brother, Gravity Beetle, and he was on one knee in pain, staring off his red sibling. It was as if he couldn't believe his own steel and oil had betrayed him…

* * *

 _ **FLASHBACK**_

 _Being a Maverick Hunter was not easy, even when you were a built speed demon like Boomer Kuwanger was. When not on the battlefield, Kuwanger was always in the control rooms, retrieving history and data. He believed the more he and the Hunters learned, the more essentially their knowledge would be in combat. His work would often make the navigators superfluous due to his extreme speed and haste._

 _In recent weeks, however, he was off duty more than usual. It was concerning to many of the squadrons, as many times that his speed would be essential he was nowhere to be seen. In truth, Kuwanger was intertwined with his research and data analysis. He was recently looking thoroughly at mankind's own history, and had been shocked at some of his discoveries. Centuries of war, greed, selfishness, and hate was found. Kuwanger had trouble believing it. He needed to know how and why; he must know all of it!_

 _But the more he learned of certain events, the more horrified he was. Among his many findings were legendary disasters and tragedies that were ultimately preventable, but came to pass through negligence, arrogance, and complicity. The Space Shuttle Challenger incident in 1986 was one of the first he found. The rockets and equipment were ill-suited for the task of launching in predictably cold weather in January, even in a warm place like Florida. The engineers knew the rocket boosters were falling apart and would not make it into space, but NASA managers ignored their pleas. Seven astronauts, including a civilian school teacher, were killed when the rockets and shuttle disintegrated 45 seconds into launch. Carelessness and arrogance sprung disaster. How could they?_

 _Then he read up on more and worse tragedies: the fall of Yugoslavia, and the war and genocides that would follow. Millions murdered for ethnicities and loyalties, and women made concubines to the perpetrators; the Hillsborough disaster where corrupt and imbecilic police were unable to control large crowds at a football match and caused a human crush that killed 96 fans, then pushed the blame on the fans; the MV Sewol sinking, the captain and his mates abandoning ship and leaving 250 Korean students and others to drown; the Gallipoli battle in the first World War that was nearly costly for the Allied Powers, and caused the deaths of more men than they could count; and the Tiananmen Square protests that the FAR had only recently lifted a ban on discussing. Thousands upon thousands of innocent people murdered or arrested for defying the Chinese government. Humans murdering and mistreating their own kind, covering up their actions, and acting with disgusting pride. It was baffling to him._

 _But he froze up on one particular subject, one the Earth had thought completely lost to history after World War 3—the Holocaust. In March 1933, an evil man known as Adolf Hitler was appointed as Supreme Chancellor of Germany and spearheaded a campaign of military and racial supremacy, segregating those "undesirable" from the parts of western Europe occupied by the Nazi Regime. As his rule began to spread across most of Europe, his administration signed "the final solution" to finally exterminate all Jews, Gypsies, Poles, disabled peoples, homosexuals, and anyone else that were unfit to live. The death toll was over 11 million people in Europe, and their deaths were committed in ghettos and concentration camps._

 _Boomer Kuwanger was in a state of shock, his eyes faltering. He couldn't believe what he was reading. The databases said most of the evidence of the Nazis crimes was gone, either destroyed or covered up by the Germans themselves, and most of the death camps were most likely destroyed by virtue of the damage caused by World War 3. Nonetheless, Kuwanger had to find proof of this. He could not truly believe that this genocide really occurred. He rushed out to find substantial proof, at one of the former sites: Majdanek._

 _His superspeed allowed him to reach the remains of the former camp in about an hour. He looked around the ruins of the camp; to say it was a dump would be an understatement. Many bunkers were worn out, half of the buildings damaged beyond believable repair, and even the gateways were struggling to stay up. Kuwanger quickly but thoroughly began analyzing and exploring through the ruined death camp, hoping to find even a clue of what happened here. But most of the gas chambers were almost nonexistent anymore, and traces of human activity was completely erased from the war. But he still needed to find something. He regretted trying to in hindsight…_

 _Kuwanger found it after 5 minutes of surveillance. In one of the gas chambers, he discovered a canister of some substance that had been irradiated. The canister's marker identified it as "Zyklon B" and had some sort of warning labels written in German. From what little he could understand, it appeared to be some kind of poisonous gas. He saw some kind of primitive van nearby, which had a similar can, but it was totally broken._

 _Out of morbid curiosity, the stag beetle Reploid slowly opened the van's back doors. What he saw was horrific: a massive pile of rotting corpses from the victims and the remains of their clothing. It came to him that this gas was used to kill the victims, either in the large Chambers or in the bans he found them in. He was stunned, but his own curiosity and refusal to accept this overwhelmed him. There had to be more. Kuwanger raced to the subcamps and eventually uncovered far worse: more clothes, dead corpses… and ashes._

 _He found them in train cars, the crematories, museums honoring them, and even underground. A harsh and malevolent truth consumed him: they weren't just gassed, the victims were tortured to death. They were shot, overworked, set ablaze, and even probably experimented on. Even worse, the Nazis attempted to hide every bit of evidence, so that no one like him would find it. All things considered, the Hunter wished he hadn't._

 _It was true. All of it was true. The humans had committed mass genocide for over 100 years against one another, and tried to deny their transgressions. Kuwanger fell to both knees, in despair and disbelief. His eyes watered with tears of sorrow and hate, he screamed in denial. What he discovered at the abandoned camp was horrifying. It had broken him._

" _It's worse than I had assumed…" said a voice behind him. Kuwanger looked up behind him, and saw the sad face of his commander, Sigma. It was as if even he couldn't believe what he was witnessing. "I had been aware of humanity's crimes against us for some time now. Even against one another. But this… this is a whole new level… of unspeakable terror…"_

" _Commander Sigma… why?" Kuwanger asked weakly. "Why did this happen? How could humans be… s-so cruel to each other? 11 million murdered… by other humans for just… existing?! How can we protect them if they can commit such atrocities?!"_

" _We cannot." Said Sigma. "Nay. We_ will _not! If humanity can do this to one another—gassed, raped, tortured, worked to death, shot, burned, experimented,_ _ **MASSACRED**_ _! Then what kind of atrocities can they possibly do us; the Reploid race who have no rights nor any wills to them?! This cannot happen again, Kuwanger! They must be stopped!"_

 _Kuwanger wiped the tears from his eyes and stood up, staring in anger. He knew Sigma was right. These crimes were to other humans, but what they could do to the Reploid race could be far worse. If mass genocide is what the humans want, then he will give it to them in full. "In a sense, we are agreed. But they should not be stopped, Commander. They must be eliminated. I suggest we give them a taste of their own medicine and murder every last one of them for their crimes! Even if I turn Maverick, I would rather be the lesser of two…"_

" _I am glad you understand this, Kuwanger." Said Sigma, whole-heartedly. "Such deeds cannot go unpunished. We will make them pay for the deaths they caused here…." Kuwanger and Sigma shook hands fiercely, all the more determined to destroy humanity._

 _ **END FLASHBACK**_

* * *

"Brother… how could you…?" asked Gravity Beetle. The injured Hunter stared at his Maverick brother with contempt and confusion. "You make it sound like I am the villain here, Beetle. But I am just a martyr trying to do the right thing." Said Kuwanger. "The extinction of humanity is necessary for our race, and our world, to survive!"

"You're full of it, Maverick!" shouted X. His sensors began their scan as quickly as X began firing Homing Torpedoes. In mere seconds, Kuwanger was gone in a flash. The Blue Bomber looked around quickly for the Maverick, but in the next instant, Kuwanger was beside him, laying his boot into him. X was flung to the other side, before Kuwanger sped over and uppercut X to the ceiling, then run there to Pele kick him into the ground.

X was already getting pounded into the ground, as he barely stood up. His sensors were barely able to scan and download Kuwanger's quick movements. Unfortunately, he didn't. Kuwanger struck with a fury of chops and kicks that were almost impossible for the naked eye to see. The damage X received was worse at this point, but he knew he couldn't grab a Subtank when Kuwanger could strike before he could grab one. X chose to charge at the Maverick for a punch, but Kuwanger easily sidestepped.

"Hmph! I thought you would have been smarter than this, X." Kuwanger said, stomping on X for added insult. The Maverick Hunter was not taking too kindly, so he quickly unleashed a Marine Cyclone to send Kuwanger flying across. It worked, but the Maverick landed on the ceiling and grabbed the horns from his head, flinging them at X like a boomerang. X's sensors scanned the boomerang, but X himself was trying to blast it. The horns bounced off his every shot and, too full of anger to dodge, took a few hits as Kuwanger dashed to his horns, regaining them. Then he used his horns to grab X and fling him down several floors down.

The Azure Hunter quickly took a Subtank before Kuwanger could speed down. He managed to gulp it all down and was powered back up just as Kuwanger sped down. _"X, pay attention to his movements! Kuwanger makes a subtle motion before he's about to speed through!"_ said Nana. "Are you always this good at stating the obvious? TELL ME SOMETHING INTERESTING FOR ONCE, BOLT-BRAIN!" X screamed. He was growing increasingly impatient with Nana's instructions. But while he was continuing to heckle his navigator, Kuwanger snuck several hits with well-placed kicks. X was unable to react in time. He took quite a bit damage, but stood up and threw his arms at Kuwanger like a madmen but the Maverick evaded each one, before superkicking the Blue Bomber up the next floor.

"It's funny how you classify me as a Maverick, X. Because I doubt you even understand the meaning of the word." Said Kuwanger, speeding back up and standing over X. The Hunter gritted his teeth, trying to stand up. "Mavericks… are Reploids that… commit crimes and… and hurt others! You're the definition of it, Kuwanger…!" X screamed.

"Is that so? I thought the same at once, but I now believe it could just be Reploids that commit treason against humans. Ones that refuse to do as those monsters command and must be put down." Said Kuwanger. "I've seen the atrocities the humans have committed, yet you seem to ignore them. Or do you enjoy being their puppet on a string? Doing as they command without asking why… You're a fool X!" X prepared his buster and launched some buster shots, but Kuwanger sped up to evade, then kicking X down again.

But before he did, X noticed something in Kuwanger's movements. Just before he rushed, the beetle wings on Kuwanger's back opened up. X realized from Nana's nagging that there was a cue to attack Kuwanger. After getting up, X waited for Kuwanger to make his next move. The Maverick was unnerved, anticipating X's new move in turn. The Azure Hunter knew he had to bait Kuwanger somehow, so he prepared his buster. "It's time we finish this, Kuwanger!" said X.

"Quite." Said Kuwanger, matter-of-factly. X began charging his buster, appearing ready to use a charged buster shot. The Maverick stood ready to move. He knew X was going to foolishly shoot at him until his energy drained. The Azure Hunter grabbed his buster and moved it just slightly up, about to shoot. This was when Kuwanger's wings flapped and was about to speed up. "NOW!" shouted X.

In about the instant Kuwanger was gone, X stopped charging and fired off about five Homing Torpedoes at Kuwanger. Though they weren't particularly fast, they had good detection and hit their target dead on, knocking him out of his speed phase. Kuwanger widened his eyes. X baited him to think he was shooting aimlessly, but was waiting for him to use his superspeed. After staggering for a couple second, Kuwanger was on the defensive as X dropkicked him in the gut then traded a fury of punches and kicks which put them even, despite Kuwanger's reaction time.

After the two separated by two kicks, they glared at one another. "Very clever, X. Your specs are more impressive than I initially assumed. Lord Sigma was correct, you aren't any other B-Class Hunter." Said Kuwanger. He was genuinely impressed. "Is this all this is about?! Making me your guinea pig, Kuwanger! You're a fine piece of scrap metal, you know that?!" X yelled.

"You're the true guinea pig, X. Taking orders from these humans, who dictate who is a Maverick and who isn't." Kuwanger ranted. "Did you not take into consideration that maybe, just maybe, that they are the ones that should be hunted down?" X glared at the Maverick fiercely and fired off well-timed Homing Torpedoes. Kuwanger started dodging, but the projectiles began to hit him soon despite his speed. X was becoming more acclimated to his speed. "I don't give a damn your reasoning anymore, Kuwanger! You Mavericks are going to die now!" shouted X, charging his buster and rushing at him.

Kuwanger evaded fast and continued dodging at every turn, but after a few minutes he felt… light. He could not move in the slightest, as if gravity itself had betrayed him. The odd part is that it did. He was trapped in a small field of gravity, one generated by Gravity Beetle, who was using the last of his strength to keep him still. X took the opportunity to rush ahead and hit a charged shot point blank at Kuwanger. X expected such a blast to destroy the traitor. While the explosion was amazing, it didn't kill him. Instead, Kuwanger was thrown out the window and sending thousands of feet into the sky.

" _ **DOWNLOAD COMPLETE. JUNGLE FORM UNLOCKED. BOOMERANG CUTTER AND TELE-DASH OBTAINED."**_

If X felt any other emotion besides rage, it would definitely be embarrassment. He overdid it and not in the best way. Not only did Boomer Kuwanger escape, but the Blue Bomber was the reason he was able to. "Oops…" was all he could awkwardly whisper. However, Hunter HQ was not laughing. Though another one was beaten, X was growing out of reason and Gravity Beetle was badly hurt. Cinnamon appeared without any call to start tending to the Hunter. X's awkwardness immediately faded away. "I don't recall requesting you here, Cinnamon!" he said, using a Subtank.

"You didn't, but I don't need a bell to know when someone's seriously hurt, X." said Cinnamon, already trying to fix up Beetle. "Don't give me that attitude! Beetle's fine, at least physically! Emotionally though…" snapped, X. He toned himself down, knowing how close he and Kuwanger were. "It's fine, X. We're Maverick Hunters. We did what we had to, regardless of allegiance. I'm just sad I couldn't have stopped him before he turned Maverick…" said Beetle. X could tell Beetle wasn't happy, but there was little he could do.

Still, there was little rest for the weary. He was already on his way out. "Just rest easy, Beetle. I'm going ahead to take out Sting Chameleon!" he said. Now the navigators were worried. _"X, wait! You should return to base and conserve your energy faster!"_ said Nana, hoping to get through to X. "YOU SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH, BITCH!" he yelled. Cinnamon and Gravity Beetle looked up, aghast. They had never seen X so angry, or yell at his own navigators before. "CHAMELEON IS A DANGER TO EVERYONE ON THIS PLANET, AND I AM GOING TO KILL HIM AND EVERY LAST MAVERICK ON THIS PLANET!"

" _Listen to yourself, X! You're sounding no better than all the Mavericks you killed! I must insist for your personal and mental health, and for the sake of the Hunters that you return to base immediately, so we can—"_ Nana began to talk, but she was not allowed to finish. "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU ORDERING ME AROUND! I AM TAKING HIM DOWN, AND EVERY OTHER MAVERICK TOO! AND I AM DOING IT ALONE….!" He screamed. X then pressed a button on his earpiece a couple of times, to completely close off communication from Hunter HQ. Now he was free of that excessive noise from Nana and the others.

Cinnamon's look was one of terror. For as long as she had known him, X had always been so nice and lovable to everyone, even her. But Sigma has pushed him over the edge. Now he doesn't even seem like a shell of the once kind and tender Reploid she once knew. "Don't get in my way…" X said, looking over his shoulder venomously. "Understand?!" Just like that, X was now gone. He teleported off to South America, but both Cinnamon and Beetle had an awful feeling of what may happen…

* * *

 **21:03 – MAVERICK HUNTER HQ**

"X, come in! Do you read me?! X!" shouted Nana, over and over. No response. It was clear to her what just happened; he had deactivated his transmitter and commlink. He was growing irate from Sigma's machinations and was pushing everyone away out of pure rage. Nana felt awful. Professor Rimmer forewarned this, but despite their efforts, they couldn't prevent it. X was now on the true road to becoming the ultimate Maverick.

"Yo, what's the noise for?" asked a casual voice behind them. It was Dynamo, accompanied by Mac. Iris was shocked that Mac disobeyed protocol, but Nana didn't even pretend to be shocked, since this was the least of her worries. "Mac, what are you thinking?!" asked Iris. Mac scratched his head. "Since he's hardly a threat, I didn't think it was worth locking him up or anything." He answered. Iris was flabbergasted, but Nana dismissed this. "We can worry about that later! We've got to get X and stop him!"

"But it doesn't make sense. Sting Chameleon is in the Amazon jungles in Brazil, there isn't much reason for him to be there other than to be left to his own devices." Said Iris. "Why would Chameleon even be stationed in the middle of nowhere with little to no resources?" Alia walked in after hearing the commotion. She was able to easily deduce what had happened. "It's probably to prey on X's declining mental stability. Now that he has gone past that point of no return…" Alia said. Nana knew exactly where she was going with this.

"Then we need to get X back and fast!" she said. Iris wasted no time getting on the comms. She was getting quickly adjusted to the work of navigation and mission control. "Hunter HQ to Zero! We have a situation! Zero, do you copy!?" she said. _"This is Zero. We've almost found Sigma's location! We'll have it for you in about an hour…"_ answered Zero. "We don't have an hour, Zero!" said Nana. Iris put her hand up to her; she was going to handle this. _"What's going on? What happened to X?!"_

"We think Sigma's broken him. X has become so violent and unstable that he's… lashing out. At any Reploid or Maverick… even us…" said Iris, her voice getting weaker as she continued. _"Dammit! That's what I was afraid of… where is he now?"_ asked Zero. "He's disabled his commlink and tracker, but we think he's heading for the jungle in Brazil to kill Sting Chameleon." Said Iris. "Zero, me and Nana are worried. We're scared that X may have jumped off the slope that no Reploid can return from! You have to stop him before he hurts anyone else!"

" _Zero, I'll handle the post here. I can find Sigma's base easy on my own, but it is imperative that you save X!"_ said Magna Centipede. Zero looked to his friend, a little concerned. He wasn't sure Centipede was making the right move, but he did know him well enough. _"Okay, my friend. I'll get X back and then we'll storm Sigma's base and put an end to this!"_ agreed Zero. _"Iris, give me Sting Chameleon's location and I'll be on my way!"_ Iris nodded and loaded up the teleport coordinates. "Already there. I'll do my best to navigate, but be careful Zero!" she said.

Without another second to lose, Zero rushed out and teleported to the Brazilian jungle. Magna Centipede stayed his guard at his position, hoping to infiltrate and find the Maverick hideout soon. Both Hunters and the navigators could only hope they weren't too late…

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

 **(A/N: Wow, huh? I want to be honest, writing X as a psychopathic jerk has been uncomfortable for me, but it's something I wanted to commit to. Even when it stops soon, it will still be an important thing. But in truth, I want to thank people that have been following, reading, and reviewing this fic for the past year. Even if you didn't like it, all the support you and others have had has meant so much to me! I hope to keep this story going and series going to the end. As usual, reviews and critiques are welcome! See you next time!)**


	11. Chapter 11: Sadistic Jungle

**Maverick Hunter X: Next-Level Insurrection**

 **Chapter 11: Sadistic Jungle**

 **(A/N: Hey folks! I been getting lots of positive feedback and I'm super happy to hear great things from fans. Of course, I get spam crap from people that find the story "too boring", but I ignore it. This chapter isn't going to be as long, however I hope you still like it and give me your thoughts. Enjoy!)**

 **DISCLAIMER: It is heavily advised that this story be read with awesome Mega Man music playing in the background. I do not own any Mega Man X related characters or themes. All characters from Mega Man, Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero, Mega Man ZX, and Mega Man Legends are all owned by Capcom. Please support the official release!**

* * *

 **MAY 3, 2053**

 **16:34 – THE AMAZON, BRAZIL**

From this point onwards, X was going solo. No navigators, no Hunters, no Repliforce, no distractions. He was finally free to kill the Mavericks without anything to diverge him. Though he only had two Subtanks left, X was unlikely to need them as he rushed forward to the small batches of enemy Mechaniloids in the distance.

It didn't occur to X that there was little reason for these Mavericks to be there. However, X had become so clouded by hate and blood that he was unable to see logic or reason. To him, wherever Mavericks were was the place he had to go and destroy them. The Blue Bomber charged at several Hoganmers, who were well shielded, and kicked their shields off, then blasting them point blank.

Several local wild Mechaniloids began trembling in fear, or fought X in self-defense. It took little shots for X to reduce them to scrap. The Maverick Hunter changed over to Ice Form when he noticed oncoming hornet Mechaniloids and used Shotgun Ice on them. It not only froze them, but also destroyed them upon direct hit. He smirked at his work. More people would be safe from these Mavericks. In his mind, he was doing the right thing.

As he was about to enter a small cave, he heard some rumblings above it. X dashjumped up to investigate it. He found a large green Mechaniloid with claws as hands and one blinking red eye. Just looking at it made X absolutely livid for reasons he couldn't explain. The robot immediately extended it's arms to attack, which X was able to jump over, then change to Electric Form and use Spark Pound. The sparks hit the Mechaniloid, but did very little damage. So X tried again, hitting the ground harder, but still hardly did a thing.

The Mechaniloid extended it's arm again, this time grabbing X and throwing him downwards, dealing heavy damage. X chose to go to Shield Form and throw an energy Rolling Shield at the thing. Still nothing. X was getting more and more irate, as he was getting more damaged and dealing less. "WILL YOU JUST DIE, YOU SLAGGING MAVERICK?!" he shouted, getting smacked into the ground. X swapped over to Water Form and shot Homing Torpedoes at the thing, but this time it seemed to do more.

X got tired and unleashed a Marine Tornado, which shorted it out so bad it exploded, leaving a hole for him to jump down into the cave. He ran into a group of Cragmen, Reploids that were covered and powered in rocks. They chucked their own rocks at X, but he changed to Fire Form and kicked them back at the Mavericks, crushing them. He glanced ahead and saw some of them were attempting to escape. X jumped up and hit his Blaze Kick to kill them. No Maverick would escape him and live to tell about it.

As he climbed up and progressed, he saw a swamp that looked difficult to pass through. He looked and saw a spare Ride Armor nearby that could easily traverse through the thick mud. He took the controls and dashed across the muddy terrain best he could, fighting off Mechaniloids that got in his way. On the other side was a small Outpost that looked abandoned. His instincts told him that Sting Chameleon was in there. Changing to normal, X dashed out the Ride armor and into the outpost. The place looked worse for ware, almost like a jungley pit. His sensors were going wild, when he suddenly felt himself getting attacked by an invisible force and cackling in the air.

"Sting Chameleon! Show yourself, coward!" X shouted. Sting Chameleon appeared from thin air and jumped down from the ceiling, smirking at the enraged Hunter. His prey had come. "Nyar ha ha ha ha ha! Well hello, X! Long time, no see! How's the trash harem of yours?" Chameleon mocked. X glared at the Maverick, clutching his buster at the menace before him…

* * *

 _ **FLASHBACK**_

 _War has officially been proclaimed on the human race. Sigma had men at his disposal that would willingly and unquestionably follow his orders and to eliminate every last human on the planet. For the slavery and suffering they were put through, the Reploids deserved justice and freedom. One that was the most gleeful of this was Sting Chameleon. The reptilian Maverick didn't exactly care for the responsibilities of protecting civilians or damage control. He just wanted to see the world burn and his enemies torn apart, no matter how low he would stoop._

 _The Maverick Commanders were in a control room at Sigma's new fortress. Among them were Sigma, Vile, the eight Hunters at the missile base, Flame Stag, Bubble Crab, a multi-colored avian Maverick Overdrive Ostrich, a spiky-alligator looking Reploid Wheel Gator, and a purple moth with yellow and orange wings Morph Moth. Sigma stood up and displayed a map of the entire globe. "Now my fellow Reploids, the extinction of the human race is at hand! For their transgressions, we will make humanity pay with their blood!" announced Sigma. The whole room responded in cheers and excitement. Except for Storm Eagle, he was the only one that was silent._

" _Aww look, Stormy being a party pooper again!" sneered Sting Chameleon. "You aren't thinking of betraying us, are ya, bitch?" Storm Eagle said nothing, nor did he look at Chameleon in response. "Come now, Chameleon. Eagle has his reasons of uneasiness and we should respect them. In fact, he will commandeer the Death Rogumer with our new recruit and attack from above and leave him to his devices." Said Sigma, calmly. "For the rest of you, I have specific places for you to hit, for strategic extinction purposes. Chameleon, you are to raid a secret R &D facility in Mexico. Snuff them out and confiscate the technology they are said to be working on."_

" _Oooh, es increíble, Senor Sigma!" Chameleon said, in a mocking Spanish accent. Sigma gave his orders to the others, but Chameleon turned invisible and snuck out. He was completely uninterested in anything else involving the others. Chameleon prepared his squad to make for Mexico. But upon further reflection, he realized that going to Mexico and doing chores for Sigma under some noble cause wasn't exactly exciting for him. In fact, it sounded kind of boring. "Alright, guys! You go on ahead to the labs and I will join you in about two hours!" he said to them. The Mavericks nodded and readied for transport._

 _However, Chameleon had zero intent on following his own orders. He was merely using it as the perfect excuse to ditch them. He looked at the map and decided Brazil sounded way more fun. He teleported off to find his calling there. A new hellhole for him to ravage, he would fit right in…_

 _ **END FLASHBACK**_

* * *

"I'm not letting you get away, Chameleon! Unlike Sigma's followers, you won't live past today!" shouted a determined X. Chameleon cackled at the Hunters assumption. "Sigma?! Why would I still want to work for that soft idealistic Nazi? He's as bad as you are, X! Gloating about massacring human kind for some 'better future' or survival! That sounds super boring… so much more fun to hunt on my own, don't ya think?"

"I think it's time to take out the trash!" X said. His sensors began scanning and downloading Chameleon's data as he shot off some buster shots at Chameleon. However, nothing was there when the smoke cleared. X looked around, in a rushing but methodical manner. He knew Sting Chameleon was hiding somewhere, but didn't know where exactly. He felt a strike behind him, so turned around and shot, but nothing was there. Chameleon did it again, and X once again shot at nothing. The Blue Bomber was getting very impatient, but in his impatience did Chameleon appear above him and fired off three energy spikes from his spine. His scanners barely caught and analyzed them as he was hit.

Chameleon latched to the ceiling and dropped some actual spikes onto X, who was barely able to dodge out the way but still took substantial damage. The lizard was getting very cheeky and clever, causing X to lose whatever mindful thinking he had left. The Azure Hunter shot everywhere like a crazed lunatic, eventually finally hitting Chameleon. The lizard was scanned as he went invisible again, but this time X was looking closely, to see where Chameleon could be hiding. He switched it up to Water Form and shot two Homing Torpedoes. He knew he'd easily draw out the cowardly Maverick. Chameleon tried climbing away, but X rigged his weapons to home in on cloaked enemies, so Chameleon couldn't hide.

X walked over to Sting Chameleon, who laid there, trying to get his bearings. The Azure Hunter changed to Steel Form and laid in hits on the incapacitated Maverick. Chameleon tried to wave for mercy, but X was giving him none. In retaliation and to stay alive, he tried striking X with his tongue, but that was a terrible idea. The Hunter grabbed it and yanked him forward for another kick, still clutching his tongue. Then X let loose a Boomerang Cutter which bounced back and cut off his tongue. Chameleon screamed in immense pain. Not only did it hurt like hell, but it couldn't grow back.

X didn't let up even once. He used Magna Shurikens to chip at Chameleon's armor one piece at a time. In quick time, Chameleon was left with nothing but literally an arm and a leg. "W-w-wait, X! I'm sorry for making ya mad! I was just having fun! Please… I beg you, don't hurt me!" Chameleon cried. He was truly fearful. An angry X was not something he was prepared for. But X was not having any of it. He stomped on the weakened Maverick a few times, letting him suffer and scream some more.

After a few more stomps, X returned to normal and Drew his buster. Chameleon was screaming and pleading for his life. He had never been more afraid than now. X charged his buster and prepared to strike, when a voice called out. "X, that's enough!" The Blue Hunter looked up and saw Zero run in, looking serious. X kept his stare at Zero as he released his charged shot onto Sting Chameleon, blowing him to bits. Zero widened his eyes. He couldn't believe X took it this far. Sure, Chameleon was an ass, and destroying or detaining Mavericks was part of their job… but not like this, he thought. X was vicious in his assault on Chameleon, who was completely helpless, and killed him in cold blood. No Maverick deserved that.

" _ **DOWNLOAD COMPLETE. CAMO-FLAGUE AND PRICKLE STING OBTAINED."**_

"I hoped it wasn't true… I hoped you wouldn't stoop this low, X… but here we are…" Zero said softly. "You've grown so obsessed with power, you became the very thing you swore to destroy!" X scoffed at Zero's implication. "I've been doing what has been necessary, old friend. Now stand aside! I've got two more Mavericks to take down!" X said with tenacity.

"Sorry X, but I can't let you do any more damage. Not in the state you're in!" Zero declared, drawing his buster. X's sensors began scanning Zero, who fired off a large buster shot. The Blue Hunter just stood there, tanking and blocking it, before switching to Fire Form. When the smoke cleared, X dashed ahead and threw a fury of strikes at the Red Hunter. Zero blocked a few, but also was hit a few times. Then X gave him a Hadouken at point blank range. Zero very hastily drew his Z-Saber and blocked it best he could, splitting them in two. However, the recoil from damage taken gave X an opening to Blaze Kick into a wall.

Zero got up, gripping his saber, but X fired off fire based buster shots. The Red Hunter used his instincts and skills to block every shot the raging Blue Bomber threw at him. X didn't even notice his scanners focus on Zero's movements, nor did he care at the moment. After deflecting the last bullet, he charged at X, intent to strike fast and hard. X switched up to Ice Form and used Shotgun Ice, freezing Zero in place. "Stay frosty, Maverick." He said, ready to leave. However, Zero managed to thaw out in mere seconds, then slashed at X when he least expected. The Blue Bomber kicked Zero, but his comrade was barely fazed and responded with a hard punch to the jaw. X was growing increasingly annoyed.

 _'JUNGLE FORM'_

The Azure Hunter switched it to his new form, which was colored camo-green and was in the shapings of an army uniform. Zero charged at his comrade, but X used his new Camo-flague ability to turn invisible and dodge. Zero knew he would try this, so he needed to now be more careful. X snuck behind the red hunter and charged his buster, disabling his cloak before firing. However, Zero was able to sense him before he even decloaked and slashed at X before he could even fire. This flung the Hunter back aways, but X was able to recover quickly and use Tele-Dash to speed at him, hitting Zero will at high-speed. The Bushido Hunter was reeling for a small bit, which gave X a chance to shoot him several times.

"Done yet, Maverick?" asked X. Zero groaned as he got up. "Dammit X, this is pointless! I'm not a Maverick, nor your enemy!" said Zero, hoping to get through to his friend. "You're getting in my way, so you're a Maverick to me!" X yelled. Zero awaited X's next strike. It didn't take long for X to use Prickle Sting, shooting off three energy spikes at Zero. His old friend deflected the attacks, then jumped up and hit a downward attack onto X, dealing severe damage. "You might have great power and potential, as Sigma said… but it's a waste if you can't control it!" Zero said, laying several slashed at X, which turned him back to normal form.

"ENOUGH!" X yelled, shooting like a madman, Zero barely deflecting the shots as he saw X charge at him. The Blue Hunter was letting his emotions cloud judgment, the fear they all had. He went for some punches and kicks, but Zero sidestepped them all, trying to get X under control. However, he could not foresee a sudden swift kick to his stomach area by X. That was when the deranged Hunter began striking Zero hard, bringing him down and not stopping his outburst of punches to him. Zero couldn't even get to his saber to counter, he was truly helpless.

" _X, stop this! You're better than this!"_ Nana shouted through Zero's comms, hoping to try getting through. Since X disabled his own commlink, Nana had to speak through Zero's in hopes he would hear. "You're right. I'm better and stronger than I started as. Through every battle, I grow closer to killing Sigma and every other Maverick in existence!" shouted X, in upmost pride. "And this is the way you plan to do it? Killing everyone with no remorse? Attacking anyone that gets in your way? Are you really X, or are you Vile?!" Zero snapped. X immediately stomped on him the minute he mentioned Vile's name. "DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE ME TO THAT MONSTER, MAVERICK!" he shouted, kicking him some more.

" _Zero, your internal systems are getting critical! You need to pull out now!"_ said Iris. Zero knew she was right, but he couldn't let X stay like this. He had to stop him, but how? That's when Nana chimed in. _"X, do you remember when you called Lieutenant Elpizo? What you said your dream was?"_ she asked. X answered without hesitation. "My dream… is to bring a peaceful world, one where we can live without fear of war or evil. Where everyone is happy. I fight… to see that happen." Zero glared at X, almost hoping Nana got through. _"Yes. You said you fought to bring happiness to the world. Well look what you've been doing; you have mercilessly killed your goes, lashed out at your allies, separated yourself without feeling! You don't even recognize friend from foe and are just attacking anyone you see as a threat, like you won't stop until everything in sight is destroyed! Is that the world you want to bring, X? Is it?!"_

Once she said that, X widened his eyes, metaphorically opening for the first time in days. He remembered the things he had done, and looked around. Attacking Reploids indiscriminately, raging at not being the one to destroy Mavericks, even abused and cut himself off from his navigators, his friends. He looked over at the severed remains of Sting Chameleon, retracting his buster and falling to his knees. X recalled how brutal he was, how… Maverick. His robotic hands stained with blood that would not wash off, X had become consumed by power and rage and nearly turned himself into the thing he vowed to destroy…..

X screamed to the sky, grasping his head, then punched the ground multiple times. He was pouring out tears in anguish, ashamed of the monster he was. "What… what have I done? How could I do this? I gave in… I let my emotions consume me… overcome with power and anger. And now…." X grieved. He clenched his fists in despair, muttering how much of a bastard he was, how he turned into a Maverick. "What am I even anymore? I'm no savior… just a destroyer…."

Zero slowly got up, clenching his chest. It pained him to see X reduced to this. He was grieving and crying worse than usual, and because of his own misdeeds. Slowly, Zero approached the sobbing Maverick Hunter and placed his hand on his shoulder. "X, it's true you hurt some of us. But I believe it's because you aren't used to this. This power you have… it wasn't meant to be used like this, and you have no idea how to control it. But you aren't a monster, X… just misguided by your emotions. Once you learn to contain them, you may stand a chance…" Zero said. X dried his tears. But he still wasn't sure, he clenched his fists in anguish. He knew he could not control himself, but there was little he could do. X silently nodded, standing up and teleporting back to base; Zero sighed in relief.

"Mission accomplished. Returning to my previous assignment." He said through his comms. _"Thank goodness. Be careful, Zero…"_ said Iris in a concerned tone. Zero smirked, he was getting to really like Iris and her fondness to him. He regained focus and tried communicating to Magna Centipede. "Zero to Centipede. Everything's under control now. Did you find Sigma's base yet?" he asked.

No response.

Zero was getting worried now. Centipede assured him that he could take care of the espionage on his own, and Zero trusted in him. But he wasn't answering any calls. Something was definitely wrong. "Magna Centipede, come in!" Zero frantically called. Still no response. "Centipede, do you read me?! Please come in, that's an order! CENTIPEDE!"

* * *

 **SIGMA PALACE**

Word of X's insanity travelled fast. Sigma and Elpizo were watching closely X's progress and unwitting descent into darkness. They saw him pushing his friends away for the sake of his supposedly sacred mission of destroying the Mavericks. They saw him indiscriminately attack any Reploid he perceived as evil, all with an unwavering conviction and believed he was right in doing so. And they had seen him wallow in despair of learning of the horrible things he had done, and become self-aware of how dangerous he really was. Even Elpizo, who did not believe X could possess great power or rage, was impressed by how badly they were able to break the Blue Bomber. "I admit, my lord. I was unsure of X's potential or the power you spoke of. But you were correct on one thing: I was not disappointed." He said to his master.

"X has grown to the warrior I always knew he was. A variable of limitless potential and the evolution of our race, and has grown to a greater Maverick than the world claims us to be!" Sigma said with pride. "Indeed, but now he's grown aware of his dangerous power. Your plan seems to have failed now that he knows how dangerous he is." said Elpizo. Sigma just chuckled. "On the contrary, Lieutenant, it's going well. Now that he knows his incredible power, X will grow to doubt himself and fear it. As will all his allies." Sigma explained. Elpizo raised an eyebrow. "What are you insinuating?" he asked. "X fears losing everything and everyone he holds dear, and that could empower him to continue his fight… or to not fight at all. But his fellow Hunters, Repliforce, the entire world. They know his potential to be their destroyer and will live in fear knowing the risk of him becoming Maverick, or causing more harm than good. That kind of fear could cause some…. problems." Sigma smirked as he explained. Elpizo grinned a bit. His master was a lot sharper than he initially perceived.

"Lord Sigma, we have a prisoner!" shouted Armadillo. He and Boomer Kuwanger entered the room dragging a barely conscious Magna Centipede. "Magna Centipede. He appears to have been spying on us for some time, trying to pinpoint our location." Explained Kuwanger. Sigma and Elpizo approached the captive Maverick Hunter. While the majority of the Maverick Hunters had heard of Elpizo, they did not personally know him, nor did they know what he looks like. Thus he was in no danger of being exposed. "You're foolishly brave to attempt a stunt like this, Centipede. Brave for the effort, but foolish in execution." Said Elpizo. Centipede looked up and glared at his former commander and the stranger in red. "Sigma… you'll pay for your transgressions against the world!" he shouted. Sigma didn't flinch at Centipede's bravado. " _My_ transgressions, Magna Centipede? Surely you won't forget the evil the humans commit nigh daily. They slaughter and kill who they dislike, enslave us and treat us like broken toys. I'm merely doing something about it." Said Sigma.

"You are slaughtering millions and bringing discord and anarchy to the world!" shouted Centipede. He was not having any of Sigma's crap. He was smacked from behind by Armored Armadillo's shield. He had gone through some maintenance work to upgrade his armor, so the shield hurt quite a bit. "How dare you demonize our master and your savior, bastard!" he yelled. "I wish you would understand, Centipede. I wish justice and free will for our people. We deserve a true Utopia to call our own, but the humans are a cancer to this planet. We are the antidote to this epidemic, and will exterminate every last one to clense this planet if their filth." Sigma bragged. Centipede hissed and struggled. He couldn't believe the words coming out of Sigma's mouth. "You're the real cancer, Sigma! But soon, X and Zero will put a stop to you!"

"X may try, but Zero?" Sigma laughed at this insinuation. "He is barely a foot note. If anything, he's more of X's sidekick. No matter, I see my words are not reaching you. I would hope you would join us, but you have made it clear that is not happening…" Elpizo drew his saber and approached closer. "Perhaps not willingly, my lord. But he would still be a great use to us…" he said, then pulled out a small tube of purple energy. From all appearances, it seemed to be a virus. "A few colleagues of mine were able to develop what I like to call a 'Maverick Virus'. Once infected by this, the negatricity and positricity will intercede with your internal processors, turning you indistinguishable from a Reploid. You retain your memories and mind, but it will be… corrupted." Elpizo smirked.

The treasonous lieutenant didn't need to explain any further. He could see the fear in Centipede's eyes, even Armadillo and Kuwanger were caught off guard. Being branded as Maverick was one thing by choice, but to be forced into becoming one was horrifying. Sigma looked calm in all of this, but he did not agree with it. "My friend, that may be going too far. This is Centipede's decision, I believe we should respect it." He said calmly. "Forgive me, my lord, but I believe iny heart that Centipede would be a sure help to us. It's vital he joins us at all costs. Besides, he knows too much to simply be left alive or to go as he pleases. So he will be one of us. One way or the other." Elpizo said, then stabbed and electrocuted the magenta Hunter. Sigma was reluctant to agree on this. On one hand, he did not want Centipede forced into this. It should be a personal decision. On the other, he realized the high need for someone of Centipede's abilities and that he could not let him roam free. At last, he conceded.

"Make it quick then, Elpizo." Said Sigma. Elpizo's grin widened as he deactivated his saber. He opened the compartment and replaced the regular energy Crystal with the tube, then closed it. The normally red saber was now emitting a purple energy. "No… NO!" Centipede shouted. He struggled to fight out, but it was no good. His fate was sealed as Elpizo raised his blade and struck. _**"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**_

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

 **(A/N: God, I am such an asshole. This one was a doozy to write. I didn't spend much time on the stage here because I wanted to show off most importantly X's change into a Maverick. Now I teased this here and I admit I was uncomfortable writing it, but will this be the only time X loses control? Probably, lol. But regardless, there's two Mavericks left before Sigma and I can't wait to start on the next chapter. I think you guys will like it! See ya soon!)**


	12. Chapter 12: SkyWay to the Heavens

**Maverick Hunter X: Next-Level Insurrection**

 **Chapter 12: SkyWay to the Heavens**

 **(A/N: Heya folks! Long time, no see huh? Okay, maybe not long. But you get it though, right? Anyway, this is Chapter 12 and, my oh my, it is a dozy! This one was a huge pain to write, but I hope you read till the end!)**

 **DISCLAIMER: It is heavily advised that this story be read with awesome Mega Man music playing in the background. I do not own any Mega Man X related characters or themes. All characters from Mega Man, Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero, Mega Man ZX, and Mega Man Legends are all owned by Capcom. Please support the official release!**

* * *

 **MAY 6, 2053**

 **12:22 – MAVERICK HUNTER HQ**

About three days had passed. X was trying to process and understand what he had done the past week. His reckless actions and desire to defeat Sigma was turned against him and he almost became the very thing he vowed to destroy. Now three days on the shelf, X has had to really ask himself if he is really the hero that this world truly needs, or if he is just the monster that could destroy it all and not even realize? These thoughts haunted him endlessly. He had no idea who he was anymore, or if he even deserved to be called a Maverick Hunter.

"Still so melancholy?" asked a voice. X looked up to see Alia standing over him. She looked unhappy, mostly sad, but X thought she was disappointed. He didn't blame her if she was. "You gave us quite the scare, X. Nana was really afraid you lost your way. As did we all. But you went off the proverbial rails quite fast." She continued. X said nothing. Just continued sulking at his failure and presumed scolding. He deserved it, he thought. "Listen X, we're not mad. Just concerned. Now more than ever, so you can stop beating yourself up. You still have work to do." X looked down more. "So am I, Alia…."

Alia looked solemnly at the blue Maverick Hunter. Her words were not helping him. In fact, it looked like she just made it worse. She admitted she was never much of a motivator or anything, so this became all the more awkward. "I'm a poor excuse of a Hunter. Turning on my friends, treating them like crap… All because of my damn emotions. I'm starting to wish I was never created…" X said in a somber tone. Alia didn't know how to respond. The Azure Hunter felt dejected and completely worthless. The blonde scientist couldn't say anything, so she didn't. She walked out, unable to cheer him up. "Well quite the motivator you are." Said someone sarcastically. Alia turned and was surprised by her guest.

It was Professor Rimmer. She put her hand on Alia's shoulder and nodded, assuring the researcher she would handle things from here. Alia smiled, but noticed Nana and Zero behind her. She did not question or speak further. She knew these three would be better choices to lift X's spirits than she. With that, Rimmer opened the door and entered. X immediately looked up to his creator, and to his friends coming in. Nana smiled weakly at X while Zero just stared, almost in hesitance of something. The Blue Bomber dared not look back, too ashamed to lock eyes with his friends or creator. "X, there is no reason for you to be so glum. You shouldn't even have to apologize. If anything, it should be me that should be apologizing… for failing you." Rimmer said, changing her tone to absolute regret at the end. X finally looked up when he noticed this. "What are you talking about, professor? This whole mess is because of me!" he said. But Rimmer shook her head sadly.

"No, X. I feel the most responsible for these events. I should have told you everything. About what kind of robot you were. Had I told you of your incredible power, perhaps this could have been avoided. But I wanted to let you decide how you lived your life, and give you the chance to discover it for yourself. Perhaps that was a mistake…." She said. X looked up sorrowfully. He could tell his creator was remorseful, but why? It was hardly her fault to begin with. This whole conflict was X's burden. "X, your combat abilities are second to none in theory, as you came to realize, but your potential is near limitless. An unlimited source of evolution and combat, but…. I did not intend you to be this." She continued. "You were conceived by nations that wished to have a sentient killing machine, but I did not want you like that. X, you are like my son, and a mother could not just allow her son to be sent into war willingly. Not with knowing how it could potentially affect your mind. Your emotions are your most important tool, X. They make you the Reploid you are, but it does not come without risk. I would explain, but… well, I do not think you require one…."

"Then…. What can I do?" asked X weakly. "Like I said, that is for you to decide X. You have to control your own destiny." Rimmer replied. She then stepped aside and let Nana and Zero chime in. X was still so ashamed to see them. He could see Nana weakly smiled, cheery as ever. X couldn't understand it. How could she still have any semblance of a smile after the things he said about her? Then she took a deep breath as she began to talk. "Still so serious, X? You need to cheer up and smile every once in a while." She said. X shot a look of bewilderment. She was cracking a joke as if nothing bothered her. Nana giggled as she spoke. "You always looked cute like that. But in all seriousness, I'm glad you're out of your psycho or moody modes. Seeing you down or throwing navigators across a hallway isn't fun."

X just gave Nana a serious frown when she said that, while Zero shook his head a bit. "That isn't funny, Nana. I could have killed you." X said. "No, it's hilarious. And you didn't, did you?" Nana winked back at him. The Blue Bomber's expression didn't change for a minute, until he started chuckling. He had to admit her methods of personal communication was kind of funny in a way. "Got ya to laugh at least." Nana said, happy for her work. Zero, meanwhile, had zero clue how to respond to any of this. She always confused him in how she did things. Then Nana began being a bit more serious in tone.

"Look X, I wouldn't have helped you if I didn't believe in you. I always knew you were capable of great things, you just needed that push to realize it. I never imagined the serious risks or rewards that would come, but you may have just defied those expectations. So no matter what, I will always support you, and will help you find a way to control your amazing power. If you still want my help." Nana reach out her hand to X, who was astounded at how dedicated she was. He didn't think she would ever want to work with him again, yet here she was. X slowly took it, then Zero cleared his throat, eager to get a word in.

"Well Nana is right about one thing: you have incredible power X. But there's a major difference between having power and knowing how to use it." He began. "You may surpass me in that department, but you don't know how to properly utilize it. X, if you learn to control your power as you fight, you might just be our best asset. But like the professor said, your emotions are a key component. Just keep a clear head and never lose sight of what's important. And I think—nay, I _know_ you can do that. But don't be going soft on us… or too hard." Zero chuckled as he said that last bit.

X stood up, looking at both his friends. Suddenly, all the unhappiness he was feeling seemed to slip away. He felt a sense of joy and pride in himself, that he was able to have such good friends by his side that would support him no matter what. That gave him all the more incentive to fight for them, to protect them. And to never lose himself. X smiled honestly and shook Zero's hand, then hugged them both. Nana blushed while Zero felt embarrassed, but he smiled anyway. He knew X was happy, and that was all that mattered. "Thank you… all of you." Said X joyfully. Nana and the professor smiled, happy to have lifted X's spirits.

* * *

 **A FEW MINUTES LATER…**

X had spent the good portion of a fat minute, making heartfelt and sincere apologies to everyone, all his fellow hunters, and the support. Cinnamon was the most forgiving. She rarely stayed mad at anyone, so X making apologies wasn't too hard to do. Iris, however, was a different story. She was unwilling to even talk to X out of fear. Every time she spoke, the Blue Hunter would always snap at her for even speaking wrong or looking at him the wrong way. Iris shivered the minute he, Zero, Nana, and Professor Rimmer entered the control room, and hid behind the controls. If you were to ask X, he'd say he deserved that. Zero nudged him to go forward and attempt to talk. "Iris… I'm sorry. I really am. I just got so upset over what Sigma and his thugs have done, so obsessed with taking him down… and took it out on you. And that wasn't right. You did not deserve that. I hope you can forgive me, and I promise it will not happen again…"

Iris heard everything he said and came out from hiding. Slowly stepping towards the Blue Bomber, she could tell he was sincere in his apology. Iris smiled a small bit and bowed to him. "I understand, X. I accept your apology, but please learn some self-control. I was scared for a moment I did something wrong." Iris said honesty. X gave her a sad smile back and shook her hand. He then turned to Dynamo, chilling in a corner. "Dynamo, why are you out of your room?" asked X. Dynamo just shrugged nonchalantly. "Mac told me I was good. And so is you, X. Yer crazy, yeah, but in a sweet and badass kinda way." He said. X sighed, realizing this was as much a conversation he was getting with the enigmatic Reploid right now. He turned his attention back to the control center and the monitors f the remaining Mavericks.

"Six down, two more to go…" he said. The remaining two were Storm Eagle and Flame Mammoth. Zero had a different problem though. They had lost communication with Magna Centipede a few days ago and gave been unable to get it back. This was a huge blow to them. Not only was a great friend to them potentially destroyed, but they had now lost all trails and leads to where Sigma was located. There was now no way to find Sigma's base of operations, and they had no where else to work off. "Even if you do beat Eagle and Mammoth, X, it won't matter. The only way to really end this conflict is to find Sigma and bring him in. But we've now a massive road block…" said Zero. "Maybe not, Zero…" said Nana. "There is one thing we haven't tried, but you aren't going to like it."

Zero put his hand up at once, he knew exactly what she was about to suggest. "Absolutely not! I may be desperate, but not _that_ desperate to go back to _her_!" he yelled. X sighed, but Iris looked completely lost. "Who is he talking about?" she asked innocently. "Layer. A former Hunter and Navigator, and Zero's ex girlfriend." X explained. Iris's eyes squinted when she heard. "Oh. His… ex. How nice…" she said with only the most subtle of hostility and envy.

"Nothing nice about it! That bitch cheated behind my back with some Mavericks, I haven't spoken to her since!" yelled Zero. He was still very bitter about being caught up in such a mess. While the Hunters still go to Layer for help, it's mostly a last resort, and Zero absolutely refuses to see her. X knew Zero was unhappy and approached his friend. "Zero, it doesn't look like we have a choice. Without knowing Sigma's intentions, we are pressed for time. I know it's hard, but if we wanna find Sigma, Layer may know where he could be…" X said. But Zero wouldn't have it. "That's still a long shot, X! We don't know if Sigma even approached her since she was sacked! And I would rather die than have to face that skank bot ever again!" Zero declared. X took a deep breath. Convincing his friend was going to be harder than he thought.

"Zero, I understand you can't forgive her. But I put my personal feelings above my true mission, and it nearly cost us so much. Don't make the same mistake I did, buddy. Please, for everyone's sake. I'm not asking this as a Hunter or Commander. I'm asking as a friend…" X said. Zero took a few minutes to digest what X had said. He just saved the Blue Bomber from making a big mistake of putting his emotions above everything, but here he was doing this too. No matter how justified it was, Zero sighed in resignation. X was right. If he didn't take this chance, they could lose so much more than they thought.

"Okay, X. I'll head to Boston at once and find Layer. But let the record show that I do not willingly consent to this. And you owe me." Said Zero, and he teleported out to begin his mission. X smiled with a bit of mischief at Zero's predicament, then returned to his stoic expression as he remembered his own mission. He knew who he was facing next and it would not be easy, "Storm Eagle…" he decided. "But why… why would you do something like this?" Rimmer and Nana looked at X with sadness. They knew the respect X had for Eagle, this was not going to be easy for X in that respect. "X, are you sure you'll be alright?" asked Nana.

"Yeah. I just don't want to do anything I'll regret later…" X said. Nana nodded sadly. "But don't worry. I'll have you guys to back me up if I do." The Azure Hunter smiled, which his allies returned. With little else to say, X teleported off to confront his former friend. This would not be a happy reunion…

* * *

 **12:37 – BELFAST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT**

X appeared onto the runway of an airport that seemed very occupied by enemy forces. There was not a airliner plane or transport to be seen, all that was seen was military craft taking off. X could only surmise that Storm Eagle chased away all civilian activity to use for refueling and defensive purposes. He needed to work fast and find the Maverick. "Nana, any trace of the Death Rogumer?" he asked. No response. "Nana do you copy?" X tried every channel on his comms he could… and then it hit him.

The Maverick Hunter slapped himself in the face when he realized why he wasn't getting a signal. He forgot that he still had his comlink turned off. Shaking off his foolish decisions, he turned his comms back on and tried again. "Okay Nana, do you read me now?" he asked. _"I was wondering how long it would take you to realize your radio was still off."_ Nana replied cheekily. X simply took that as a yes and changed the subject. "I don't see the Death Rogumer anywhere. Are you sure Storm Eagle is around here?"

" _The coordinates indicate that the vessel is at the dock of Gate E. But the trail to get there is treacherous, and you'd need to get up high to dock it in time. Nellia and Repliforce are in the area as well, so rendezvous with them for assistance."_ Said Nana. "Understood. Just hoping they recognize me as friend and not foe." Replied X, as he ran forward. He did not have much time before the ship lifted off. X jumped up and into the airport's concourse levels, where he found Maverick guards. The guards attacked and shot at X with intensity. The Blue Bomber easily evaded and blasted the guards away, however more came behind him and attacked. Just as X was about to counter, an orange and black figure jumped down and threw quick strikes that completely dismantled the guards.

It was Nellia. She turned to X and winked to him. "Hey X, been a while! I see you've recovered from your little tantrum." She said. X was really hoping she didn't learn about his episodes a few days ago. "I don't wanna talk about that Nellia. How's cleanup over here going?" he asked. "We're still trying to clear the airport. This Repliforce punks are engaging Storm Eagle's forces, his ship is refueling but it will lift off in 20 minutes. Skiver is engaging Eagle to slow him down, but I don't know how long that will last." Nellia explained. This left the Hunters with 20 minutes to find and stop Storm Eagle. "Okay. We better get moving and fast!" he said, dashing off with Nellia in tow.

The two crossed through several sections of the airport terminals where many Mavericks awaited them. A few Rush Roaders charged at them, but Nellia stood her ground as X jumped up. He dropped down and ride of them, struggling to control it. Nellia meanwhile spinkicked some of the others and giving another one an axe kick, not moving from her position. X used the one he had to charge into the last two and ram into them, destroying all the Roaders just as he jumped off. The two hunters gave each other a thumbs up and proceeded outside. They saw Repliforce soldiers quickly cutting through the defense cannons and Gun Volts. Above them, they saw Skiver and Storm Eagle engaged in combat.

Nellia clenched her fists at the sight of Skiver, who appeared to be leading this squadron. Even though he was not at fault, she still couldn't find it in her to accept it. She still blamed Repliforce for the Sky Lagoon tragedy and the loss of her girlfriend. Nellia being here was no coincidence. She wanted to confront not just the Mavericks, but also Skiver, for failing to save everyone that fated night. X could sense some hostility in her and tried calming her. "Nellia, do not forget your duty. Repliforce are not our enemies. Sigma is." He said. Nellia took a few seconds to digest this and it soothed her anger temporarily. She put her feelings aside and nodded, ready to proceed.

"You're right, X. We need to focus! Let's hurry before the Death Rogumer takes off!" she said. The two dashed off into danger, hoping to stop the ship before it took off again. Nellia launched her Rising Dragon fireball attacks that took out several defensive cannons, which X changed to Fire Form and hit a Blaze Kick on a few Gun Volts and Skyclaws. Several more Reploid soldiers approached them as they tried to block them on all sides. The two hunters nodded and began attacking on all sides, punching and kicking the Maverick soldiers in their way. "NUBO-TE!" shouted Nellia as she hit a Tricycle Kick onto several soldiers. X resorted to fierce punches and elbow shots to the chest plate. Then he finished the last of them off with a big attack. "HADOUKEN!"

In time, all enemies were gone and they proceeded onwards again. "Nana, how much time is left before takeoff?" asked Nellia. _"Less than 10 minutes. But I'm getting a heavy Maverick reading from above!"_ said Nana. X and Nellia looked above but hardly saw anything. "I don't see anything. Only Storm Eagle and Skiver." Reported Nellia. "Perhaps using some sort of stealth tech?" wondered X. His assumption appeared to be correct. Just then, a yellow figure appeared from the sky behind them and shot missiles at the two. X and Nellia were knocked, but were able to regain their bearings, as they heard some loud singing.

"Dun-dun dun-dun-duuuuun! Dun-dun dun-dun-duuuuun! Dun dun dun, dun dun dun! DUN DUN DUN-DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUN!"

Descending from the skies was a Reploid they had never seen. It was one of a teenager and the look of an American school girl. The Maverick in question was bright yellow, resembling an American Eagle, with some spiky quills on the back of her head, green eyes and a blue gem on her forehead, with something akin to flight goggles on top of her head. She had gold and orange colored wings, under armor colored white with armored parts that resembled Storm Eagle's but more advanced and colored lemon with some shades of green, and bronze talons as feet. She seemed to be like a female upgrade of Storm Eagle, and looked like a more energetic one.

X and Nellia were unsure how to take this new arrival. Before this, all the Mavericks they had faced the past week were ones they were familiar with. But they had never seen this Maverick before, much less one that seemed so youthful and exuberant. X turned over to the Daguva-Zeba arts practitioner. "A new recruit, or old friend?" he asked. "Never seen her before… identify yourself!" Nellia answered, turning to the Maverick mid-sentence. The Maverick gleefully posed, introducing herself. "Of course you wouldn't know me, Hunters. But you are the real Mavericks. I am the newest protégé—as well as number 1 fan—of Storm Eagle, the newest generation of Reploids to usher a new age of happiness!" she screamed posing in an energetic fashion. "The shining light of Reploid hope, the rookie ace for Lord Sigma! The Princess of the Winds…. Amelia Eaglyde!" Eaglyde wrapped up by twirling around, drawing a buster similar to Eagle's, then standing, her left arm flash back and her right arm pointing forwards in a pose of great posture, not unlike a pose from Japanese superhero shows.

X tilted his head. He still had no idea how to process this new arrival. This new Maverick, Amelia Eaglyde, was way different in behavior than any other Maverick he faced. Granted, Mavericks believing they were good was not new to him, but her hyperactive and gleeful personality was not something he had seen. Nellia, however, took less time to understand. This girl was a total sycophantic fan girl if she ever saw one. Nellia got into fighting stance and readied to attack. "You are really deluded if you think we're the Mavericks here, kid! Now move aside! We need to talk to Storm Eagle!" she shouted. Amelia stepped out of her posing fest and stood ready. "Sorry, but I can't let you do that! I got orders to keep you from destroying the ship!" she said. "And sensei will be so proud when he hears I beat X and this kung-fu girl in one stroke! Tee-heeeeee!" She blushed just thinking of the admiration.

"I don't have time for this!" X said, getting impatient. He tried running past her, but Eaglyde easily kicked him back. His sensors began to light up and scan the young Maverick. The two Hunters awaited her first attack. It didn't take her long; Eaglyde's wings glowed and in one flap, several feather projectiles were launched. The two evaded them with some running across buildings, X analyzing them before turning back to fire off buster shots to take them down. Unfortunately, Eaglyde had a counter in firing off a twister that swirled in a circular horizontal pattern. X didn't see this coming and was launched into a hangar with full force, receiving heavy damage. Nellia jumped up and gave her a kick to the wings, which got Eaglyde by surprise. "Cheap shot!" Said Eaglyde, catching Nellia and hitting several left hooks on her.

 _'ELECTRIC FORM'_

X jumped up in Electric form and used a Volt Punch right to Eaglyde's gut. Nellia fell from her clutches, but X was able to catch her and set her down. He did not need to do that, considering Reploids were plenty resilient. But he was unsure how long they could hold their own against this newcomer, and time was not on their side. They had about five minutes before Storm Eagle and company made their escape. "X, you'll have to go on ahead! Stop Eagle before he gets away. I'll take care of this!" said Nellia.

"You sure you'll be okay with this?" he asked. He still was unsure about leaving her with the newcomer. "Relax. This fangirl's an amateur! I can take her. Go… NOW!" Nellia responded. X realized the urgency in her voice and nodded. He dashed up to the hangar and began jumping from building to building. "Hey, get back here you Maverick!" shouted Eaglyde. She tried flying after, but was stopped when she felt her arms and wings locked in some Full Nelson. Nellia had used her legs to trap them, then flung her body in a 180° motion, crashing Eaglyde neck first onto the runway. Nellia jumped back and got in a fighting stance as Amelia got up. "You're fighting me, kid! I need to blow off some steam!" she taunted. Eaglyde prepared herself. "Alright then! Gimme your best, kung-fu bitch!"

Liftoff was in a minute or so. X hurried as fast as he could. Skiver and Eagle were still fighting in the clouds, but the battleship was beginning to move. The Blue Bomber wasn't going to make it at this rate. That's when he saw a Skyclaw and got an idea. Dashing with all his might, X jumped right into the claws if the Maverick. Normally, whenever a Skyclaw caught it's victims, it would carry wherever it wanted and then self-destruct. X was betting on this one to land him close enough to the Death Rogumer then jump onto the ship before it blew up. His instincts were on the nose. The Maverick flew just above the docking platform before it began destroying itself. X very quickly got out and dash-jumped right onto the ship. Finally, he was on. _"That was a gutsy move, X. But a good trick nonetheless."_ Praised Nana. "Thank you. Okay, I'm on the Death Rogumer. It's now taken off. What next?" X asked.

" _Looking at our scanners, the Death Rogumer is an airship with the purpose of nuking and destroying major cities. The key to it's attack power is the ship's reactor. If you can get in and destroy it, the ship will lose its attack and defensive capabilities! Hurry X!"_ Iris suggested. X nodded, he didn't need to be told twice. He rushed forward as the ship launched. It didn't take him long to run into cannons on the deck. Ducking down, he changed it up to Ice Form and fired off a few well-placed Shotgun Ice projectiles, freezing the cannons completely. This gave him the opening and break them through punches, kicks, and a buster shot or two.

X made his way inside the ship. The defense systems were not easy to get through, with sentry guns and guards abound. Returning to normal form, charged shots dealt with the sentries and guards, and X found himself in the ship's reactor room. He noticed the reactor ahead of him. X knew he would have work fast. Once he destroyed the reactor, the ship wouldn't stay afloat for long. But he didn't care. Switching back to Electric Form, X used a big Spark Pound to see Sparks across the room, hitting the reactor and it's core multiple times. The reaction caused a massive explosion, destroying most of the ship's interiors and deck.

The Azure Hunter was amazed that the whole ship was still in one piece, for a time. He looked across the debris and noticed it was mostly a floating plank at present. It would not hold up for long. "X to Hunter Base. I've destroyed the reactor, and from the looks of it, most of the ship. Estimated time before it begins crashing?" he contacted base. _"Estimated about 10 minutes before it begins it's descent. I suggest dealing with Storm Eagle quickly."_ Said Nana. X nodded and looked up to see Eagle gaining the upper hand, landing an axe handle onto Skiver, who came crashing down, falling and tumbling on the floor. X quickly checked on the spiral pegasus Reploid. "Captain Skiver, you okay?" he asked. Skiver was quick to get up, but grabbed his arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine… and it's Commander Skiver now, X…" he said. Skiver was promoted to rank through his valor after the untimely passing of Storm Owl. Skiver was reluctant to accept this responsibility, he did not find himself worthy of such an honor. However, all his fellow soldiers vouched for him and were behind his promotion. Now Skiver's first task as Commander was not an easy one. "Well, I congratulate you on your promotion. I think you truly deserved it." X said, though Skiver was unsure. Just then, Storm Eagle slowly flew down, touching down opposite the two. Eagle closed his eyes the minute X locked eyes with him. Even if he believed he was doing good, he could not face X. Not when he had betrayed him, and in his viewpoint, the entire world….

* * *

 _ **FLASHBACK**_

 _The Maverick attacks would not cease. The Sky Lagoon incident seemed to be the Nexus for Maverick crime, and was skyrocketing since. Storm Eagle had to work missions both in air and on land. Neither one was actually easy for him or his squad. This particular day, he had to fight off Mavericks chasing a man driving his own armored truck. The man's cargo was not disclosed to him, but whatever it was had to be extremely valuable for Mavericks._

 _Storm Eagle glided down with his buster drawn. The truck had already been knocked off the road and into some buildings by the time he got there. Several Sniper Joes and Disc Boys were ready to attack and kill the driver when Eagle swooped down. Pointing his buster at the Mavericks, he used his Storm Tornado, a powerful horizontal wind gust which severely damaged them and blew their shields off. Then he finished them off with one rocket that destroyed them quickly. Eagle quickly ran over to the driver to check on him. "Are you okay?" he asked. The driver was thankfully injury free. "Oh thank you so much!" said the driver. "You have no idea how much it means to me! I can get these guys to my destination without any prob—"_

 _Just then, a beam saber pierced through his chest. The man choked on blood as he fell when the saber pulled out. Storm Eagle was shocked to find who it was that stabbed the man—Commander Sigma?! But why? Had the commander turned Maverick? Before he could even ask questions, a yellow figure swooped past him, grabbing the man and threw him to the ground. Then the Maverick drew her own buster, looking similar to his own, and gunned him down with a gatling gun, then finished with a rocket. "Hasta la vista, baybay!" said the Maverick. Sigma rolled his eyes. "I believe you're supposed to say that_ before _you kill your prey, Eaglyde." He said to the new arrival. Eaglyde chuckled nervously as she turned, then gasped in excitement when she saw Storm Eagle, taking an attack formation._

" _Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! OH MY GOSH, YOU'RE REALLY HIM!" Eaglyde said excitedly, hugging and shaking his hand. "You're really Storm Eagle! Oh my god, this is amazing! I never thought I'd actually get to meet you! You're one of the best Hunters ever! I'm your biggest fan! I followed all your fights, all your battles! You are so goddamn cool!" Eaglyde blushed heavily and had to take a moment to inhale and pinch herself. Storm Eagle blinked in bewilderment. He never met anyone with such energy and admiration for him. Eaglyde kicked the floor and her energy turned to shyness in the presence of her idol. "I-I'm sorry, umm…. Can I have an autograph…?" she said nervously holding out a notepad. Storm Eagle thought this was a weird request for an enemy, but felt generous, so signed his signature. The rookie Maverick clenched her notepad to her chest and sighed happily._

 _At last, Sigma cleared his throat. Eaglyde went to his side and stood at attention. "Amelia Eaglyde." He introduced to Eagle. "You'll have to excuse her. She's a very big fan of your work." Eagle nodded as he looked at his treacherous commander. "I noticed, sir. But I would like to know why you two killed that man! He was attacked and defenseless!" Eagle chewed out. "Was he, Storm Eagle?" Sigma asked. He motioned Eagle over to check the man's body. On him, Eagle found he had a blaster pistol, which didn't seem too out of the ordinary, until he searched further. He saw some electric netting spheres and tranquilizer darts on him. Eagle tried racking his brain around why he would need them. "Commander, I was not informed of what his cargo was. What could he possibly need all of this for?" he asked._

 _Sigma closed his eyes and approached the truck, preparing his saber. He knew what that human was carrying and it was going to break Storm Eagle's heart, but he needed to know. Sigma carved the doors in half to open them. Storm Eagle was horrified by what he found. Inside were at least a dozen of Reploid citizens. Was this some kind of unofficially Maverick hunter guild? Not a single one of these seemed dangerous at all. It didn't add up to him. Then he saw special chains around them. His mind went through so many possibilities, but it dawned on him what their true purpose was…_

" _This… is a Reploid slave trafficking truck." Eagle whispered. Sigma looked down. He knew about this, but he wished it was all a joke. "It's deplorable, Storm Eagle. To capture and enslave our own people and continuously sell them off on the black market. This is the true nature of these humans." Sigma said solemnly. Eagle was speechless. His trust in the humans, in his mission, had been completely shattered. But what could he do now? "I can't let this stand…" he said, releasing the captive Reploids. "Something must be done. But I don't know what…" Sigma spoke up; "I do… extermination!"_

 _Storm Eagle froze hearing that. He couldn't possibly think of going through something that extreme, could he? "Commander, with all due respect, that cannot truly be the answer!" Eagle vouched. "There is no choice. We cannot let the humans do with us as they please. You have lost faith in them, have you not?" Sigma responded. Storm Eagle deep down knew his superior was right. He could not put any faith in a species that would sell him out later, but he did not agree with this. He knew he would have to hurt innocents to make his point, a fact that made him sick to his gut._

 _Reluctantly, Eagle stood at attention and saluted. "I will help you. But let the record show that I do not condone what I am about to do." He said. Sigma nodded in understanding. "You will partner with the rookie Eaglyde. She is rough around the edges, but I believe she will amount to something with good training." Sigma said. Amelia had to refrain from squealing in absolute joy. To Eagle, this would be a long campaign…_

 _ **END FLASHBACK**_

* * *

"Why Storm Eagle? Why would you do this?" asked X. He knew Eagle better than to willingly attack innocent people of his own volition. Or at least he thought. But he still had to believe Storm Eagle had his reasons for doing this. The blue bird didn't speak. He stared down at the ground in shame. "Answer me, Storm Eagle! I know you aren't the kind of Reploid that would cause so much harm to others!" X pleaded. All he wanted was some kind of answer for his behavior. Eagle finally spoke. "X… I am under orders to fight you, and arrest you for… for high treason against the Reploid race."

"Treason? Eagle, Sigma is the real traitor, not me! He's murdering millions of people, subjugating the entire human race! He betrayed all of us, you should understand this!" X said, hoping to get through to him. "I know, X. But I also know… that humankind thinks us expendable. They literally have us in chains, I have seen it. I cannot fight for a cause… that j do not believe in…" Eagle replied. X could tell Storm Eagle didn't really want to fight him. "There has to be a better way than this! Please, Storm Eagle! Just turn yourself in and we can resolve this! I don't wanna fight you…"

"Nor do I you, X. But I have no choice. You have a duty to fulfill, and I have mine. So come fight me, Maverick Hunter X! Give me everything you have!" shouted Storm Eagle, raising his buster to fight. X refused to move, not even in the slightest. "Storm Eagle, please…!" X said. Even Nana was shook, bowing her head in sadness. _"X, I'm sorry… but he's made up his mind. It sucks to see this, but like he said, you have your duty…"_ she said in resignation. Skiver put his hand on X's shoulder. "He has chosen his fate, X. There is no escaping this, I'm afraid. We have no choice but to accept this…." He said in a solemn tone.

X looked at Storm Eagle. He could see his systems were already beginning to scan and download Eagle's data. There was no denying it anymore. Storm Eagle had to be stopped. X drew his buster and prepared to fight, unwilling though he was. He began firing his buster at Eagle, who flew up to dodge. Skiver spread his wings and prepared to attack. The two flying Reploids charged at each other, trading punches before Eagle kicked Skiver in the gut, sending him down. Before they connected with solid ground, X leapt up and delivered a roundhouse kick to Eagle's beak, releasing the grip. "Thanks, X. I owe you again." Said Skiver. X gave him a thumbs up, but was ill-prepared for what happened next. Storm Eagle swooped down and struck him, then ascended to do it again. X was rocking from the blows. Before Eagle could hit a third one, Skiver jumped up, hitting an uppercut. X analyzed as the strike also brought forth a mini-tornado as well, dealing more damage to the Maverick.

As Storm Eagle got his bearings, X switched back up to Jungle Form. He fired off a few Boomerang Cutters to clip his wings, but Storm Eagle rolled out of the way a few times to evade. He then fired off plasma energy shots, which X quickly evaded. "Your reflexes have improved X. I'm impressed." Praised Eagle. "I haven't even started yet…." X smirked. He was trying to find some humor in this fight. Storm Eagle landed and used his Storm Tornado attack. X's sensors scanned the attack as he tried to fight through the breeze. Not only was it dealing extreme damage to his armor, but was also pushing him towards the edge. X tried dashing, but it only sent him back. This time, Skiver caught him and countered with a rocket to Storm Eagle.

"Looks like we're even." Said X. Skiver grinned as X set himself down a bit. Meanwhile, the fight between Amelia Eaglyde and Nellia was just as intense. Despite having an advantage in aerial combat, the young Maverick found herself having trouble putting down the martial artist. She had not counted on Nellia's impressive agility and powerful strikes. Eaglyde herself, however, had a few tricks as well in some strong strikes and kicks. But Nellia answered with a powerful Pele kick, then a neckbreaker for good measure. Eaglyde got up and fired off more feather missiles which the Hunter evaded effortlessly, except the last few that hit her. Despite this, Nellia shook off the damage she took.

"Not bad, kid." Nellia praised. "I admit you got skill. But you lack experience and discipline! So I'm putting this away!" Eaglyde smirked at this remark. "Unlikely, Maverick scum! You're getting buried 50 feet under!" she said and ascended. Nellia stayed her ground, ready for whatever the deluded Maverick had up her wings. However, she found herself distracted when she saw her idol and superior, Storm Eagle, engaged in combat. She would have to put this kung-fu girl on hold for now. She had to help her Commander. "Storm Eagle, hang on!" Eaglyde yelled. But Storm Eagle swatted away Skiver and turned to his protégé. "No Eaglyde, stay back! I can handle this on my own! Concentrate on your opponent!" he beseeched.

"But sir, the odds aren'tin your favor! I can help!" Eaglyde argued. "You are too young to engage with opponents of this pedigree right now. Besides, I made my decision already…" Eagle said. Before Amelia could protest, she felt an axe kick to her neck. Nellia had noticed she was distracted and jumped from tower to tower just to make her move, taking down Eaglyde. "You're too easily distracted kid. Left yourself wide open." Nellia commented. She jumped into the Death Rogumer to join X and Skiver. The Daguva-Zeba practitioner glared at Skiver, her fists clenched seeing him. Skiver looked away in shame. As for X, he changed to Ice Form and slowly approached Storm Eagle. "Storm Eagle, I am sorry to do this… But I have a duty to perform." He said. Eagle smiled lightly at the Azure Hunter. "I know." He said, almost accepting his fate.

X fired off a Shotgun Ice which froze his wings solid. Eagle took the shots and raised his buster to strike, but X quickly changed to Electric Form and hit a massive Volt Punch, destroying his wings and leaving him heavily damaged. Eagle staggered back, to the edge of the ship, he was now aware of his situation. But he did not care, he smiled at X. X and company gasped noticing where he was. "Well done, X. You truly are… an exceptional Reploid. Good bye." In one moment, Storm Eagle saluted him and willingly fell over the edge. It was by this point, the ship had stopped and began it's descent. Eagle was diving down into the clouds. With no wings, he could not save himself. This was his end.

" _ **STORM EAAAGLLLLLLLLLLLLEE!"**_

X cried out his name in anguish as Skiver carried the Hunters off the ship and down to ground. Normally X was happy to have defeated a Maverick, but Eagle was no any Maverick. He was a good friend and a Hunter to the end. It was not right. It felt awful, to see him go like this. All X did was now his head in respect to his former comrade.

" _ **DOWNLOAD COMPLETE. SKY FORM UNLOCKED. GATLING FEATHER, STORM TORNADO, SKIVER PUNCH OBTAINED."**_

X and Nellia didn't react to the prompt. All X did was give himself and Nellia a Subtank each. He couldn't pretend to celebrate this. This was when Eaglyde flew down, tears flowing out of her eyes. It looked like she was breaking down. She admired and looked up to him, and was given the privilege of working under him… and now, he was gone. She was crying so hard it was hard for the Hunters to ignore her.

The Hunters… why call themselves Maverick Hunters, she thought? Eagle was doing a noble thing and they strike him down. How dare they think him a traitor? She dried most of her tears and glared at the duo and Skiver. "You monsters… how could you do this?! Storm Eagle was a hero, and this is how you repay him?! How do you live with yourselves, doing this?!" she exclaimed in a sorrowful rage. X said nothing, he couldn't justify his actions. That's when Nellia spoke up. "X did what he had to, to save all the lives Storm Eagle was taking! It wasn't anything personal at all, it was what had to be done." She said. "Eagle was _saving_ lives, from themselves! Now I'll take yours!" Eaglyde yelled, raising her buster to fight.

" _Eaglyde, fall back at once."_ Said a voice on her comlink. _"We have already lost Storm Eagle, we will not lose you. Return to base immediately. That's an order!"_ Eaglyde wanted to detest, but she knew who it was that was on the other line. She dared not oppose him, even if she wanted to. She withdrew her buster and flew up, never breaking her glance at the 'Mavericks'. "This isn't over! Next time, you all will die!" she screamed and flew away. But X couldn't shake the feeling that the voice sounded so familiar….

"Nellia is right, X. Eagle asked for a just finale. You gave him that, and did what you could. Our best is all we can ask for." Skiver reassured. X lightly smiled in reassurance, but Nellia scoffed and walked off. Skiver frowned at her apathy. He knew he could never make up for his failure, and accepted her anger. He felt he deserved it. "…if only our best was good enough." He mumbled. X heard him and patted him on the shoulder in return reassurance. "You have your duty, I have mine. Good luck, Commander." X said and then teleported off. Skiver smiled and flew off to check on his men.

* * *

 **19:45 – CLUB VALENTINE – BOSTON, MA**

Zero arrived at the edge of Beantown to the Red Light District where his lecherous ex-girlfriend worked. He came to the entrance, showing his Hunters license to the doorman which gave him an easy way in. Zero surveyed his surroundings. The pink and purple lighting was entrancing for many a person, but he had a job to do. Loud club music rang through like a bell to him. Dozens of patrons, human and Reploids, danced and watched at the hot girls showing their stuff. Being in such a provocative place like this strip club made him sick to his core.

Zero wasted no time in fast walking to the bar, where he met a figure he hoped to never see again. It was a female Reploid with tanned skin and long purple hair that even covered her eyes. She had very little in the way of armor; only a white and violet chest armor that barely covered her breasts, similarly colored arms and legs, black armored thighs, and a black thong. It was Zero's ex and the owner of the place, Layer. Zero gritted his teeth at the sight of her as she cleaned some glasses, looking over to notice him. After she was ousted from the hunters, she used some of the money she got from her parachute fund to start her own strip club. It's become a popular spot for the northeast United States, at least for the men, and she's made a modest reputation.

"Well if it isn't my favorite straight-laced swordsman. Long time, no see." Layer said, finishing her polish and looking to him. Zero, meanwhile, was in no mood for her. "Not long enough, Layer. But at least you didn't waste the money when you took off." He said. Layer smiled in a cheeky way. "The only thing that's been wasted, babe… is your time." Zero shot up a glare at her. "Excuse you?!" he said incredulously. He couldn't believe what she just said. Was she saying that rescuing people and stopping Maverick crime was a waste? "You're wasting time being puppets for the humans. I appreciate them as my patrons, but I know what they really think of us: their toys.

"Just look at the humans in this club. There isn't a single human man in this room that doesn't work here and isn't seeing my girls as items or mere machines. The government and the people, they don't see us as anything valuable. Not even as individuals, we don't even have rights. I got the picture before anyone, Zero. That's why I left." She said. Zero was looking at her, his rage dissipating slightly. "You were fired, and your tone sounds a lot like Sigma's. You could've fit right in with his entourage, so why didn't you?" Zero asked. "Well, money and business, first off. Second is you and X rubbed off on me. I still think there's some level of goodness or morality in everyone. So when Sigma approached me, I turned him down. Rather be a prostitute than a killer, you know?"

Zero said nothing as he digested what she said. He could hardly argue with the logic, subjective though in how she phrased it. But bitterness was still feeding inside of him. She could have been more upfront about her feelings rather than… doing what she did. It seemed to him like she was trying to justify her actions, but there was a bit of him that still wanted to believe her. Layer poured a drink for Zero and broke the ice. "So what's the deal? I know you didn't come all the way out here just to catch up on old times." Layer noted. Now the red hunter got serious. "You said Sigma approached you to join his rebellion. Well, we're out of leads of where his base is located. I didn't want to come here, and it's a long shot, but I was hoping you'd know something…."

"Honey, if I knew where it was, I'd probably be there already. But I do have an inkling of where it could be…" she said. Layer took out a tablet and pressed the screen, opening a larger holographic screen for Zero to see. The map showcased several routes on the pacific northwest of the USA and the FAR. "These are the supposed routes that Sigma's been using to travel the goods he needs." She explained. "Notice where they are. The Ring of Fire on the Pacific Ocean. Not suspicious at all?" Layer explained. The blonde Maverick Hunter nodded. He knew there was some trading routes near Seattle and Tokyo, which is where Zero encountered Vile. What he didn't expect was so many around that perimeter.

"Right. But the routes seem to disappear just after the Hawaiian islands. No doubt Sigma is jamming the signals, so they don't reach far." He noted. Layer got closer, almost seductively, but remained professional enough for Zero's tastes. "So around the center of the Pacific is where they're gathering…. But there should be nothing there." She said. "Key word being _should._ " Zero began to notice her advances but paid her no mind. He wasn't here for her flirting. This is when he realized something. He knew of several floating landmasses and cities across the globe like Sky Lagoon, but heard of one in particular near Hawaii. Now it came together. "Where was the Hawaiian floating isle?" he asked.

Layer punched some codes in and showed a floating landmass that was not on the maps before, it was a mile or two past Hawaii and in the literal center of the Pacific Ocean. This was it, Zero thought, That's where Sigma was hiding. "I can't believe I'm saying this… but thanks Layer. Wouldn't have been able to find it without you." He said, smiling a bit. Layer returned his smile. "Come back soon, hot stuff. I can think of a good way to repay you…" she said in a seductive tone. _"Oh she can piss off!"_ said a voice on Zero's comms. Zero didn't recall leaving it on, so HQ must have left it on.

Layer gave a playful smirk. Even though she didn't know Iris personally, she knew her voice and was able to guess who she was. "Is that Colonel Patton's younger sister, Zero?" she asked. "Messing with Repliforce's little angel. You been a bad boy…" Iris was only getting angrier, completely forgetting that she exposed herself for listening in on Zero's private talk with his ex. Zero just chuckled. "I would introduce you two, but I don't want to get things messy just yet. Baby steps, Layer." He replied. With that, he gave her his tip and walked out. He was going to definitely be talking with Iris soon, but good news had to be given first.

They found Sigma

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

 **(A/N: Oh my god. 20 Pages. That's how long this bastard was! To be honest, I'm surprised I was able to pull it off, especially wit irl stuff and me being distracted with other interests. Regardless, we are in the home stretch. Next chapter will be Flame Mammoth... but I also got a couple Sonic based fanfics cooking as well. Hope you enjoy them. Until next time, please R &R and share, and I will see you next time!)**


	13. Chapter 13: Into the Fire

_(A/N: Hey guys! Long time, no see!I know I haven't updated this story in a long time, but I was pre-occupied with Miracle of Love. Now I will try to alternate and not keep these stories too lonely, keyword here being try. Sadly, though, I've not had the passion for it. This year has been a total shitshow and it may be starting to get to me mentally. I've had bigger troubles with staying focused on my projects and even my real life job as a result. Whenever I have days off, I usually settle down and look at porn to keep my mind off. It may show in this chapter. Enjoy it anyway, though...)_

* * *

 **Maverick Hunter X: Next-Level Insurrection**

 **Chapter 13: Into the Fire**

 **DISCLAIMER: It is heavily advised that this story be read with awesome Mega Man music playing in the background. I do not own any Mega Man X related characters or themes. All characters from Mega Man, Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero, Mega Man ZX, and Mega Man Legends are all owned by Capcom. Please support the official release!**

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 **MAY 6, 2053**

 **20:34 – MAVERICK HUNTER HQ – CAFETERIA**

About eight hours passed by. X felt absolutely terrible. Fighting the Mavericks had been a trial for the past few days, but this was probably the hardest. Storm Eagle was not like the other Mavericks X had fought up until now. Most of them were pretty awful people or had twisted views that Sigma exploited. But Eagle was different. He was the only one of those that X considered a true friend. Being forced to put him down was disheartening, even moreso being called a monster by Eagle's biggest fan. X thought he was going to break again. How long was he going to do this? He had to basically pray that Zero found something from Layer so they could end it…

X knew he had to do what was right, but was all of this truly right? Was Sigma perhaps right in his crusade? The minute he thought this, he stopped moping and scratched that. Whatever his intents were, the way his fallen Commander was going about it was completely wrong. Free rights and honor did not justify all the senseless violence and murder. He was done thinking about it. X finished his snack and walked back to the main control room. Nana and Iris were waiting for him to return. There was work to be done.

Over the past four days, X had fought and defeated seven of Sigma's commanders (well six, technically). Now there was just one Maverick left: Flame Mammoth. The big guy was all that stood between them and Sigma. The Hunters deliberately picked him last because while he was slow , he was durable and able to take a beating, as well as dish it out. Mammoth was a total sadist at heart and was an ass to his teammates. X needed to be careful. He turned over to Nana. "Any word from Zero about Sigma?" he asked. "Afraid not. Hopefully by the time you're back, we'll have something useful." She said. X was getting nervous. Eight Mavericks or not, they wouldn't be able to finish this conflict unless Sigma was destroyed. "All I can do is take Flame Mammoth down and hope for something. Better get moving!" X said and teleported off. "Good luck, X…" whispered Nana.

* * *

 **18:39 – MIDWEST URO GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANT – ROSEMONT, IL**

X arrived and looked around the area. Geothermal was a primitive energy source, but this plant churned out massive energy levels that it was hard to scoff at. The Blue Bomber looked and saw some humans tirelessly working but looking exhausted. Something was off to him. Why were the humans being spared here? He thought Sigma wanted to kill the humans, not enslave them. The only thing he could think of was this is Mammoth's agenda, not Sigma's. Though he would think Sigma would put a tighter leash on the big fire Maverick.

"I made it. Looks like Mammoth has enslaved the workers here to do his bidding." Said X. _"That fat bastard has a twisted way of exterminating. It stands to reason he may seek to kill them by forcing them to overwork until they expire from exhaustion. Seems like the energy isn't even his objective…"_ noted Nana. "He isn't getting away with it either. Let's get busy!" X decreed and rushed into the factory to take down Mammoth's operation. _"X, I shouldn't have to tell you that there's lava all around the factory. Try not to get hot under the collar."_ Nana teased. X groaned at her bad pun and jumped onto several conveyor belts. He had to dash a few times to keep his momentum going, but that was little trouble for him. Getting off to a platform, he noticed several human workers being carried through by Degraver Mechaniloids on chains. They were carrying dangerous materials and looked mighty tired. One was even about to collapse from exhaustion, falling to one knee as he breathed heavily.

The Mavericks didn't like that. One of them raised it's pickaxe, preparing to strike down on the defenseless human. X had seen enough. Leaping into action, he dropkicked the Degraver hard, sending it against the guardrail. Its Maverick comrades charged at X, but the Azure Hunter jumped over them and readied his buster. He shot small careful plasma shots at the workers' chains to free them. "Go, get out of here!" he yelled to the humans. They wasted no time in trying to run away from the battle, but a few of them, including the one X rescued, were too weak from overworking to even get far. As X threw a punch to some Mavericks, he noticed this and realized they needed medical help quickly. "Cinnamon, get here fast! I have some injured civilians here!" he yelled over his communicator. _"On it, X!"_ responded Cinnamon.

Cinnamon teleported into the power plant and quickly began to tend to the wounded. She hadn't treated a human patient in some time, so she wasn't sure how she might want to go about it. But she also realized it wasn't a good time to relearn or sulk. Not when civilians were in danger like this. X kept the Mavericks busy with charged shots and kicks to the groin. The hunter saw a Maverick jumping at him from afar, so he reacted by blasting him in the chest. The Maverick was blown off and fell into the lava below. X looked down after dealing with the others and grinned sadly. "That was a sick burn." He commented. _"Wow. And you say my pun was bad…"_ said Nana. "I was just improving on it, Nana. Nothing more." Said X. He ran over to Cinnamon tending to the last of the victims.

"Are they alright?" X asked Cinnamon. The young Reploid nurse looked up at X. She was still a tad bit fearful of the blue Maverick Hunter, considering his recent rampage, but spoke professionally. "They're bruised and heavily dehydrated, but they'll live." She said. X sighed in relief. He was glad they would make it through. "Good. I'm heading forward to liberate the rest of this plant! Cinnamon, get the rest of them out of here!" he said. Cinnamon nodded and helped one of them to his feet. But the human worker called to X. "Wait! There's still more trapped… and our kids too!" he said. X gasped in shock. "Seriously?! Why are there kids in a Geothermal Power plant?!" he exclaimed. "It was… our boss's son's birthday. He… invited his friends… and our kids… but that's when… the Mavericks showed up. Their leader, Flame Mammoth… he said he would… kill them unless we…" the human was breathing heavily. X was clenching his fist. The other Mavericks he faced were treading a very sharp line, but now Mammoth just flat out crossed it. He was going to pay dearly for this.

"Don't worry, sir. I'll get them out safe and sound!" X said, reassuringly. The worker smiled weakly at the hunter. For some reason, he had a feeling he could trust this Reploid to rescue the children. "Thank you…" he said. Cinnamon carried he down outside, where the rest of his fellow coworkers awaited him. X, meanwhile, rushed ahead with tranquil fury. He had to keep himself composed, but the more Mavericks he fought, the more heinous acts they were committing. _"X, remember your duty! You must detain or destroy Flame Mammoth and free those hostages! Don't lose yourself in the moment, and keep your mind clear!"_ said Nana. X stopped as he came to a hallway. He already lost control of his emotions once during this conflict. He would be damned if he let it happen again. X was angry, but he had to keep his focus and not let his emotions overtake him. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Yeah… I got it. Thanks Nana. Glad to still have you…" he said. Nana smiled and blushed a little bit at his compliment. She just hoped her words could fully calm him.

X ran over to the corner of another hallway and looked ahead. He saw some Mavericks patrolling the perimeter and armed to the teeth. Getting those hostages free wouldn't be easy. In fact, the only easy part would be finding where they are. "Nana, Iris, run a scan of the facility. See where Mammoth might be holding those hostages!" said X. _"Already on it, X! It looks like Flame Mammoth is keeping them in the central furnace. That's where the lava and magma are being syphoned from and converted into usable energy."_ Said Iris. "Doesn't he realize that those kids might not make it under that intense heat?! Why would he keep them there?!" X exclaimed. _"I think Mammoth does realize that. He doesn't just want the humans to die, he wants them suffering…"_ said Nana solemnly. Now X was getting angry again. How could Flame Mammoth be so heartless to do this?

"That's so cold… I have to get there fast, or those kids won't make it!" he said. But X needed to think this through. He lost control for going into fights guns ablazing. He may have had all his Sub Tanks, but Flame Mammoth was big, boisterous, and dangerous. He needed everything to bring him down. He quietly switched over to Jungle Form and prepared activating his Camo-flague ability. Using Sting Chameleon's invisibility would come in handy to evade the Maverick guards and get through the plant at a quick pace. Once active, X jumped from wall to wall, dashing and sliding through the Mavericks around him, who went about their business none the wiser. He slid through a big door where his ability wore off. He could see row upon row of platforms and conveyor belts above hot molten lava.

"Nana, is this the central furnace?" he asked his navigator. _"Negative. The furnace is several blocks forward. You're in one of the energy conversion chambers. Keep your wits up, there's still plenty of Mavericks around and there's plenty of spots here ripe for an ambush."_ Advised Nana. X sighed. He was hoping to get this done and over with quickly. The more time he wasted on the Mavericks, the less time those kids had to live. "Understood!" he said, rushing forward onto a platform, running forward in a careful but rushed way. X was trying to hurry, but needed to be cautious or he would walk into a trap. Unfortunately for him, he already had…

" _X, bogies at 1 o'clock! They're right on top of you!"_ said Nana. X barely had time to spin around and fire off Boomerang Cutters at the platforms above him. Sniper Joe units took precise aim at the Blue Bomber, only missing because of the wreckage that blocked their shots. X was safe there, but couldn't rest at all. He found himself shot from behind by more snipers hiding behind their own barricades for additional cover fire. The Azure Hunter was now trapped between a sniper and a hard place, and the Mavericks knew it too. "Target immobilized. Preparing to destroy." Said one Sniper. X wasn't ready to give up just yet though.

 _'SHIELD FORM'_

X changed to his Shield Form and put up his guards, deflecting the bullets off and into support beams around him. He summoned Armadillo's shield and threw it at the snipers, aiming right at the heads. The shield's sharp edges cut off their heads, leaving them dead and immobilized as the shield eventually came back to X. Now the Azure Hunter had to deal with the Sniper Joe units that pinned him down behind the barricade. X switched back to Jungle Form and activated Camo-flague again. He jumped over the large barricade, where the Snipers were lying in wait for him to come out. Thanks to his invisibility, they didn't see the Maverick Hunter jump out and then jump from one conveyor belt to another until he decloaked behind them and unleashed a Prickle Sting attack, firing a three-directional green laser projectile that destroyed them.

X quickly dash jumped over to the exit of the chamber. It was getting a lot hotter the more he searched. _"The central furnace will be just after the chambers to your right. Cinnamon's also near the doors."_ Said Iris. X tilted his head. Why was Cinnamon still here and not with the human slaves? He ran through the hallway to his right, where Cinnamon was outside the door. "Cinnamon! What are doing here? Shouldn't you be tending to the workers?!" X asked. "Already taken care of. They just needed some water and bandages, and they were fine after that." Cinnamon replied cheerily. X put two fingers to his forehead in dismay. No way it was that easy. The nurse didn't even seem too worried about the impending dangers. "X, those kids aren't going to survive too long. I need to be able to keep them hydrated and healthy, or they'll die from the intense heat!" she pleaded.

"It's too dangerous, Cinnamon!" said X, "You may have medical technology equipped with you, but all you have for defense is a small pistol. You won't stand much a chance against them!" X argued.

"That's why I'll have you to watch my back. You do all the shooting, and I'll just be doing the medical deeds. Easy as pie!"

"I can't defend you all the time, Cinnamon! Another Maverick can easily sneak up behind you and—"

"And I bitch-slap him in the face!" said Cinnamon cheerily. X blinked a few times to process the fact she said that.

The Blue Bomber was still resolute in his decision. "Just stay here and I'll get those kids outta there!" he said, running for the door. Cinnamon still ran behind him. X turned to look at her. "This isn't a joke, kid!" he said. "I know it's not, and it isn't a matter of debate! I'm a medibot that's made to nurse and protect! So I'm going with you and that's final!" said Cinnamon. X sighed. He knew there was no use arguing with her at this point. It was best to drop the subject and move forward. "Okay, fine… but you stay close to me and don't get any bright ideas about getting confrontational unless you have to. Got it?" X said sternly. "You got it!" Cinnamon saluted and skipped behind him.

X ran across a few pipelines, with Cinnamon following close behind. Switching to Electric Form, he jumped up and saw Hoganmer Mavericks swinging their maces around and looking bored out of their minds. The blue Maverick Hunter leapt up into the air and hit a Spark Pound, releasing sparks across the pipes, destroying the Mavericks and taking out the defenses in short order. Cinnamon hopped over their bodies and looked at them. She didn't like them, but she was still a nurse made to help others. She put a hand on one of their chests to check their systems. They didn't seem too bad, but would be out for several hours. It would be enough for her and X to sneak past and save the kids. X smiled faintly. Cinnamon had to be the only other Reploid he knew that actually cared about the lives of others, even their enemies. Cinnamon stood up and the two quickly hurried through the next set of doors, leading to the central furnace.

" _X, Cinnamon, be advised! Our scanners are detecting Flame Mammoth's energy signature. Stay on your guard!"_ said Nana. "Roger that, Nana!" said X as he and Cinnamon rushed through the doors. X found himself on an unmoving conveyor belt in the center of what seemed to be a big room at first glance. There was little floor, with lava surrounding them. In the center, Cinnamon could see the main furnace powering the facility, and circling it was a line of chains with little kids shackled to the ground and looking very tired. "Those have to be the hostages!" Cinnamon thought aloud. X nodded, clenching his fists in anger. They had no time to waste, those kids were going to die. X returned to normal form and lined his buster up to shoot the chains off the kids. He needed to be careful, though. One wrong misfire and he could kill them instead of save them. However, he never got the chance. X and Cinnamon felt the ground shaking a bit as they tried to steady themselves. X looked ahead and saw the obese yet imposing Maverick, Flame Mammoth, stomping towards them.

"Ho ho ho! Look what we got here – some wannabe prodigy and the baby nurse!" Mammoth laughed, "Come to save the day, X? It's really adorable for a wimpy B-Class Hunter!"

"It's not about rank here, Flame Mammoth! It's a matter of right and wrong. And I'm here to put a stop to your Maverick ways!" said X, pointing his buster at the big guy. Mammoth just laughed at his bravado.

"I'm just giving these humans what they been asking for. They wanna kill each other, I do it for them in the slowest way possible... Am I just Maverick cuz it took too long?" he snuffed.

"You're working them to death, and putting those kids down there in unsafe conditions! They could die at any moment!" Cinnamon protested.

"Hah! Those brats are annoying anyway, no one's gonna miss them. Letting them rot is basically a mercy, if ya ask me." Mammoth said, apathetically. This pissed off X all the more. "That does it! I considered arresting you instead of killing like the others, but someone like you doesn't deserve that! Time to be scrap, Flame Mammoth!" shouted X.

X charged at Mammoth and threw a hard punch at him. The large Maverick laughed. "Hahaha! That kind of tickled! Now it's my turn!" he shouted, grabbing his arm and tossing X across the room, colliding him into hard steel. "Oh no, X!" yelled Cinnamon. X began to stir, looking over to Cinnamon. He nudged, motioning for her to free the kids. The medic looked at him. She wanted to help him but quickly realized that the children had been in the heat too long. She had to move to save them. Cinnamon flapped her tiny wings and flew down to help the dying children. Flame Mammoth looked back and saw her trying to slip away. "Nuh-uh-uh! You ain't goin' nowhere doc!" he said, pointing his blaster at Cinnamon. However, X fired off a charged buster shot at Mammoth from behind. He wasn't letting those kids suffer either.

"You aren't going anywhere, Mammoth!" he said, "You'll have to deal with me first!"

"Hah! This'll be easy!" boasted Flame Mammoth. He raised his arms and trumpeted from his trunk. The minute he did this, X felt the conveyor belts moving, rotating backwards to where X entered the room. He noticed his optics scanning and analyzing Flame Mammoth. Now the final Maverick battle had begun. X ran towards the current of the conveyor belt, firing off small pellet shots at the lumbering giant. Mammoth jumped up to stomp onto X, but the hunter dashed out the way. However, the collision caused a small rumbling that knocked X off his feet. Mammoth took the time to launch balls of fire from his blaster at X. As the Azure Hunter's scanners analyzed the attack, he got right back up and jumped out of the way.

X navigated around the big guy and shot some more plasma shots. Mammoth tanked the bullets and tooted his trunk. The conveyor belt then changed directions, now the two were going backwards from where they were. X had to struggle with running against the flow of the belt, even if he wasn't in any imminent danger. Now Flame Mammoth opened up with more fire blasts at the struggling X, who had to jump to evade them. His scanners analyzed them, but a diagnosis only saw them as slightly less powerful than his Hadouken technique, only meritable as a potential _upgrade. "X, I'm sure you were aware already, but Flame Mammoth's trunk is controlling the conveyor belts! Take it out and he'll be at a disadvantage!"_ said Nana. "Got it, Nana!" said X, trying to switch to a new form. Unfortunately, Mammoth didn't give him a chance. He launched another fireball at X that sent him against the wall. X had to be smarter than this now.

Meanwhile, Cinnamon flew down to unbind the heavily dehydrated and unwell children. She wasted no time getting out her pistol and shooting the chains. The metal chains were undone and the kids were free, but they were too exhausted from the heat to run. Cinnamon looked at the group, seeing about ten children of different ethnicities that were in need, most of them girls. She ran over to them to help them in any ways she could. "Hang on, kids! Nurse Cinnamon is here for you!" she said, trying to reassure them.

"Are we… going to die…?" said one little girl.

"Not if I have something to say about it!" replied Cinnamon, in a cheery tone. She had to keep their spirits high even now.

Cinnamon used a scanner to take their temperatures. She knew it was bad, but needed to be sure for records. It was worse than she thought. The kids would die if she didn't administer any way of keeping them cool. She pressed buttons on her forearms, activating a medical hose of sorts. "This may sting a bit, but it should cool you off." She warned the kids. The medic began spraying the kids with cool water to try to keep their body temperature stable. However, the intense heat was making the water hot. It ended up not helping at all. Her next instinct was to try to create some breeze, but she didn't know how to do that. That's when she got an idea….

"X, it's too hot in here! I can't work under these conditions!" she called out to X. The Blue Bomber was still locked in a seesaw chase with Flame Mammoth, unable to get a real advantage over the big guy. X didn't have a whole lot of room to change into another form to combat him either, he was mostly trying to tire him out. But when Cinnamon called out, he realized how bad the situation was getting. The longer he prolonged his battle now, the less time the hostages had left. He understood what needed to be done. "Then looks like we'll need to cool off." He said, finally getting an opening to jump dash and switch to a new form.

' _ICE FORM'_

X's change into Ice Form against a Fire Maverick came with a boisterous laugh from Flame Mammoth. He knew X wasn't that bright, but even he didn't think X was _this_ stupid! "Ha ha ha ha ha! Have you flipped your chips for good, X?! You know that ice isn't gonna work on me, right?! I mean, I'm not called _Flame_ Mammoth because it sounds cool! What's a few snowflakes gonna do against me?!" he gloated to X. The Maverick Hunter actually knew full well what he was doing here. His priority wasn't on Flame Mammoth right now. It was the kids down below. He looked up at Mammoth and got into a bluffing fight stance. Flame Mammoth tooted his trunk to switch the directions again as X prepared to move. Mammoth then spat blobs of oil at X, which he analyzed and dodged with great ease. The Blue Bomber slid past his legs and fired off ice shots at the big guy's groin, doing underlying severe damage.

" _Ugh! That could not have felt good…"_ Nana commented.

X took the opportunity to kick the dazed Maverick and then jump over him. He unleashed about six Shotgun Ice projectiles, all going right over Flame Mammoth and hitting its intended target: the reactor and the lava, freezing them over and changing the atmosphere from a scorching oven to a winter wasteland. Flame Mammoth had just gotten back to his bearings and realized that X had missed every shot. He didn't notice the changing of his surroundings, though. The big tub of fire just mocked X for his seeming ineptitude, unaware of the dramatic irony.

"What kind of aiming do you have, blue boy? You missed every shot!" he laughed.

"No I didn't." smirked X.

"Yes you did, dumbass! You shot like six ice thingies and none of them even hit me!"

"That's because I wasn't aiming at you."

Flame Mammoth blinked and looked around. It was only now just dawning on him what X had done. The central heater and furnace was completely frozen over. The lava was turned to ice, and the air was chillier. Looking downwards, he saw the kids getting cold, but Cinnamon had a thermal heater to keep them warm and well. She was also able to spray them with cool water and hydrate them again. X smiled at his handiwork. While not the results that most would go for, he did what he had to, to save the hostages.

X looked to Flame Mammoth, who was completely baffled at what the Azure Hunter had just done. He completely made Flame Mammoth look like a bigger fool than he is and thwarted his plan. Now the big guy was pissed. "Oh X, poor little X… that was a huge mistake you just made! Now I'm really mad!" said Mammoth and tooted his trunk and jumped to stomp onto X. The hunter jumped out of the way and landed on the ice, activating his Slide Skates which created icicles on the bottom of his feet to use as skating blades. Flame Mammoth stood on a platform nearby, thinking he had X trapped, and unleashed fire blasts at the hunter.

X skated out the way, maneuvering around his projectiles. Chill Penguin's sliding ability was coming in handy. As X sped up through the ice, he began picking up speed. Dodging the projectiles coming his way, he jumped up and dashed, sending his bladed foot right into Flame Mammoth's gut and sending him back a few feet. Now back on solid footing, X switched up to Steel Form. He could hear the children cheering him on. It motivated the Maverick Hunter to fight harder, laying some strikes to Flame Mammoth. The end was coming.

Flame Mammoth stumbled as X prepared to fire off a finishing blow. However, the big guy chuckled callously as X was readying his attack. Mammoth knew X's weaknesses and was willing to exploit them at any cost. He turned his flamethrower and aimed it at the group of kids. X gasped and very quickly dash jumped right in front of them. Mammoth released a stream of fire right at them, which X took the full brunt of. His scanners downloaded the attack as he felt the damage done to him. Mammoth laughed at how well his plan worked. X took the bait hook, line, and sinker. Even if he didn't, he would have torched those annoying pests anyway, so to him, it was a win-win.

Flame Mammoth laughed mightily as X fell down, glaring up at the fat Maverick. Mammoth kicked the blue boy right into the cold furnace, smacking X around and causing heavy internal damage. "Man, you are so easy to break, X. You're way too soft, and way too weak!" he sneered. He spat out more oil attacks which connected and stuck to X. The blue hunter slipped over the oil at his feet and Mammoth took the time to shoot a Fire Wave right at X. The chain reaction from the meeting of fire and gasoline caused X to be set ablaze. X screamed in intense pain as Flame Mammoth laughed X's predicament. Now the kids were trembling in fear, seeing their hero be burned and tortured.

Cinnamon couldn't just stand idly back. Reactivating her medical hose, she began dosing water onto X to stop the flames. It worked, but the damage had been done. X was charred and covered in heavy burns. His systems were failing and he could barely move. Flame Mammoth was about to stomp on him to keep the pain going when he felt small bullets hit his shoulders. Cinnamon had tried shooting him with her handgun, taking a defensive stance to keep him from hurting the hostages. The kids cuddled up in fear. "Ho ho ho ho! That actually tickled, nurse! May I have another?!" he yelled, stomping his foot down to cause a small tremor. Cinnamon stumbled a bit which was enough for Mammoth to grab her and slam her into the wall. He charged his buster to finish her. X was barely on one knee, unable to stop in time. Cinnamon closed her eyes, in fearful resignation of what is to come….

Suddenly, Flame Mammoth felt a large metal clang that pushed him back a foot or two. When he looked up, he saw a Hoganmer before him, raising its shield to defend Cinnamon. She opened her eyes and saw the Maverick, looking at it in confusion. Even X was perplexed as he tried to get back up from the beating he received. "Hey, move it pal!" shouted Flame Mammoth to the Hoganmer. He wasn't happy about one of his own turning on him and protecting an enemy. The Mechaniloid said nothing and returned to his defensive stance.

"There a glitch in your head, shrimp?! I said _move!_ " yelled Mammoth. X took the opportunity to use one of his Subtanks to replenish his health. He started feeling better, but stayed silent observing. It was unlike a Mechaniloid, much less a trooper like a Hoganmer, to defect back to a more heroic directive. Perhaps there was hope for it's kind. "Maybe I oughta spell it out for you, rustbucket!" yelled Mammoth, raising his boot to stomp the duo. The Hoganmer drew it's mace to hold it back. It didn't look like a safe bet at all and it seemed like it wouldn't work. But just then, after a minute of struggling, a plasma pistol appeared in the Hoganmer's free hand, and he used it to lay several shots at Mammoth's leg. The Maverick stumbled and fell back as everyone in the room looked at the Hoganmer in surprise. It was nothing compared to what happened next.

"No thanks, I don't really speak douchebag anyway." It said. Then suddenly, a ring of digital data surrounded the Hoganmer and it glowed white as it seemed to be reshaping itself into something completely different. In a few moments, the light and the ring faded, and both X and Cinnamon looked in awe at the new character that stood in the Mechaniloid's place. Mammoth was only slightly surprised by the new arrival. This one was a Reploid unlike any they had seen before. He had a slender teenage body, roughly around Cinnamon's physical age, with a grey undersuit, and mostly black armor with yellow lines on his arms and legs, as well as a blue gem on his helmet and short spiky auburn hair protruding from the back of it. He had green eyes, an 'x' on his forehead, and small slanted jet wings on his back with boosters on his heels. In the Reploid's hands was still the pistol he used, but a second appeared in his left hand, which he twirled around with a cocky smirk.

The kids cheered upon the newcomer's arrival, their hopes brought back up. Cinnamon looked up at her savior in awe. She seemed star-struck from his reveal. The Reploid turned back to her with a light smile. "You okay, nurse?" he asked in a gentle tone. Cinnamon blushed at him. She thought he was kind of cute. "I… I'm fine." She nodded, earning a smile from the stranger. He turned and walked to a stirring Flame Mammoth.

"I dunno who the hell you are, but now you really pissed me off!" said the lumbering Maverick, "Now I'm gonna stomp you into ashes!"

"I wouldn't count on that, tubby. Though would be a better use of your feet if you actually moved them once in a while." said the stranger, smirking.

Flame Mammoth wasn't going to take that insult lying down. He fired off his flamethrower at the kid, who flipped out of the way and started shooting him with small but rapid gun shots that chipped at his armor. He tanked them all the same, unaware of the damage from earlier on in his fight with X taking its toll. The new guy dashed and bicycle kicked him a few times in the chest, doing minimal damage but still pestering Mammoth with his presence. The big guy punched him off but the stranger recovered in the air and hovered above twirling his guns. "Gee, someone's getting a little under the collar." He snarked, warming an irritated growl from Mammoth.

X, meanwhile, got back up and observed the battle. He wasn't sure who this new stranger was or why he was helping. Furthermore, he had never heard of a shapeshifting Reploid before. The Blue Bomber was conflicted on what to do or who to help. "Nana, Iris, who is this guy?!" he asked his navigators. But for once, they had no answer.

" _I'm not sure, X! There's no records in our database of any kind of shapeshifting Reploid, or anything like him!"_ said Iris.

" _It's very suspicious. It might be a trap, X! Proceed with caution…"_ advised Nana.

X heard loud and clear, but he still wasn't sure. After all, the stranger saved Cinnamon's life and was fighting Mammoth to protect the kids. There's no way someone like that could be considered bad, could it? Then again, this kid could just be eying her for his own desires. X wasn't sure which option was more true. What he did know, however, was that this kid was helpful right now and that Flame Mammoth had to be taken down. Now recovered, X rushed into action, switching back to Steel Form after being knocked out of it earlier.

Flame Mammoth was firing off his flamethrower all over the place, trying to hit the stranger. The newcomer was continuously dodging everything Mammoth threw at him, flipping right over the flames being sprayed at him. The big Maverick shot fire blasts which the newcomer pranced and flew around, mocking the Maverick. "You may wanna consider aiming, pal. Just a thought." He said in a mocking tone. Flame Mammoth was getting even more pissed. The youngling fired off almost an entire human magazine of plasma bullets at the big guy, doing only a bit more damage, but made sure to also give him a couple to the face as well.

"Why you…! That's it! You're going down in flames, twerp!" shouted Flame Mammoth, preparing to fire more oil from his trunk.

Just at that moment, X fired off a Boomerang Cutter that sliced off Mammoth's trunk. The wooly Maverick screamed loud in pain and stumbled. X smiled as he leapt over to the young stranger. Flame Mammoth was weakened and devoid of all vices keeping the heroes at bay. Now was their time to strike. "I owe you, kid. Cinnamon and those hostages would be goners." Said X to the new stranger.

"Just doing what comes naturally for me, you know?" said the stranger with a grin on his face. He put away his pistols and reached out, as a High-Speed Assault Rifle appeared. The youngling grabbed and cocked it. X was curious as to how he managed to obtain such a weapon. The teenage Reploid shot off dozens of energy shots at the stumbling Maverick, piercing his thick armor in record time. X got a few shots in as well, using Magna Shuriken attacks to amplify the pain tenfold. The Blue Bomber reverted back to his normal form and charged his buster. He and the newcomer fired their weapons, finishing and destroying Flame Mammoth for good.

"I was just getting fired up too." Said the kid. X blinked and tilted his head in bewilderment. The stranger's one-liner and pun flew completely over his head.

" _ **DOWNLOAD**_ _**COMPLETE. OIL SPILL AND FIRE WAVE OBTAINED. HADOUKEN UPGRADED TO LVL 2."**_

X was surprised that his Hadouken attack had gotten upgraded. He was unaware his attacks could receive upgrades. He turned over to look at Cinnamon, shrugging those thoughts off for a quick minute. Fortunately, she didn't seem to be completely hurt and the kids were both healed rather quick, and looked very happy jubilant to see the Hunters.

"You okay, Cinnamon?" X asked, walking over to her.

"Yup! All good! Thanks to you and that… huh?!" Cinnamon said joyously, then blinked when she turned to where the stranger was.

X turned over to where he was as well, but to his surprise, he was gone. He never even got the kid's name, but he was grateful for his help. The kids seemed happy about it as well, but looked disappointed the stranger had to leave so soon. "Who even was that guy…?" X wondered out loud. "I don't know… but he was dreamy…" Cinnamon said, smiling blissfully. X raised his eyebrow in concern. He still wanted to know more about this newcomer that had helped them. That was when he got a call.

" _X, come in! X!"_ yelled Nana.

"I copy you, Nana! What's wrong?!" he answered.

" _We just got a message from Zero! He's located Sigma's base!"_

X's eyes widened, and Cinnamon gasped in excitement. All that waiting and fighting old friends had finally paid off. Now they were ready to commence the final battle and stop Sigma's rebellion against the world. _"Return to base immediately! We'll need to plan our attack accordingly!"_ said Nana. "Roger that!" said X, hanging up. He looked to Cinnamon, tending to the hostages who were reuniting with their families. The Maverick Hunters smiled and looked at one another. Cinnamon looked a bit concerned for the kids though. Some still looked like they needed checkups and rehab.

"I'm headed back now! We have to bring down Sigma once and for all before…" said X. Cinnamon nodded in understanding.

"You go, X! I'll catch up." She said. Cinnamon was still thinking of that handsome Reploid that saved her. She may have fallen in love and part of her wanted to know all about him. She walked to the kids and their families, helping them out through the healing process of what they just went through.

X teleported back to base quickly, preparing for the final confrontation with Sigma. It was time to end this madness for good…

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

 _(A/N: Aaaaand BOOM! There we go! This one took a lot longer than I hoped. Like I said, my mind wasn't focused on Mega Man, or on writing at all, so it may seem like a slop at times. It was also very difficult to not outright spoil who the young stranger was, even though I think most of you might be able to guess who anyway... But I hope I'm not letting anybody down here. The endgame for this story is coming real soon. It will be quite the big load of chapters and exposition and I want to do my best there. I'm hoping to do a lot better by then. Until then, see ya folks!)_


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